Free Notice (Other) - District Court of Colorado - Colorado

Case 1:01-cv-01197-LTB-BNB

Document 152

Filed 07/06/2005

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO

Civil Action No. 1:01-cv-01197-LTB-BNB

PAUL F. RATHER, Plaintiff

v. JOHN SUTHERS, et al., Defendants.

______________________________________________________________________________

NOTICE OF RECENT AUTHORITY ______________________________________________________________________________

On October 29, 2003, defendants moved to dismiss plaintiff's claims under Section 3 of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act ("RLUIPA"). Defendants mounted a constitutional challenge to RLUIPA, claiming that the statute violated the Establishment Clause. On January 22, 2004, the United States of America intervened in this case for the purpose of defending the constitutionality of RLUIPA. Intervenor United States of America hereby notifies the Court that the Supreme Court has unanimously held that Section 3 of RLUIPA does not violate the Establishment Clause. A copy of the Supreme Court's decision in Cutter v. Wilkinson, 125 S. Ct. 2113 (U.S. May 31, 2005), is

Case 1:01-cv-01197-LTB-BNB

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Filed 07/06/2005

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attached to this Notice. In Cutter, the Supreme Court unanimously held that Section 3 of RLUIPA represents a permissible legislative accommodation of religion and was not prohibited by the Establishment Clause. In light of the Supreme Court's decision, the United States respectfully requests that this Court reject defendants' contention that RLUIPA violates the First Amendment. Dated: July 6, 2005 Respectfully submitted, PETER D. KEISLER Assistant Attorney General

/s/ Daniel Riess THEODORE C. HIRT DANIEL RIESS (Texas Bar No. 24037359) JEFFREY D. KAHN Attorneys U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Division Federal Programs Branch P.O. Box 883 20 Massachusetts Ave., NW Washington, D.C. 20530 Telephone: (202) 353-3098 Facsimile: (202) 616-8460 E-mail: [email protected] Counsel for United States of America

Case 1:01-cv-01197-LTB-BNB

Document 152

Filed 07/06/2005

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that on this 6th day of July, 2005, I caused the foregoing Notice of Recent Authority to be served on the following parties by first-class mail: Paul F. Rather #51887 LCF Limon Correctional Facility 49030 State Highway 71 Limon, Colorado 80826 and to be served on the same date via electronic case filing.

/s/ Daniel Riess Daniel Riess