Grace New England and Pastor Howard Kaloogian v Town of Weare

On April 29, 2025, the Justice Department filed a statement of interest in Grace New England v. Town of Weare (D.N.H.), a private lawsuit alleging that the Town violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (“RLUIPA”) by threating fines against a small home-based church and its pastor. The fines were allegedly an attempt to force the church to undergo the Town’s site plan review process even though New Hampshire state law prohibits local governments from requiring this process for religious land use. The Town filed a motion for summary judgment, contending in part that the plaintiffs’ claims are not ready to be heard by the court because the plaintiffs have not gone through the full site review process and have not exhausted potential administrative appeals. The department’s statement of interest refutes these contentions, explaining that the plaintiffs’ claims are ripe due to the nature of the RLUIPA claims and the Town’s cease-and-desist order. The statement of interest also explains that RLUIPA does not require a plaintiff to pursue every possible administrative appeal before filing a lawsuit