DOJ probes alleged discrimination against Christian rehab

Federal investigators opened an investigation into whether an Alabama town discriminated against a project in conflict with laws protecting religious liberty and people with disabilities. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights division said Thursday it was investigating the city of Rainsville in northeastern Alabama. Prosecutors received a report that city officials violated several federal statutes, including Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Housing Act, and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, known as RLUIPA.

More about the claims: Total Recovery Ministries wanted to open a facility for its discipleship program that helps rehabilitate men with drug and alcohol abuse issues, according to the DOJ’s letter to Rainsville officials. The city denied the ministry’s request for a variance, or exception, to a zoning ordinance that barred the program from operating a facility in the area. The city was accused of wanting to keep drug addicts away from the area in question, according to the DOJ’s statement.

WORLD reached out to Total Recovery and Rainsville officials for more details about the case, but did not receive responses by Friday afternoon.

What are the laws in question? The Americans with Disabilities Act protects the right of every person to participate in society, even if they’re on the path to substance recovery, according to the Civil Rights Division’s Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon. Religious institutions also have a protected right to minister to those recovering from substance abuse, she added. RLUIPA protects religious groups from discrimination through unnecessarily burdensome or unequal application of land use regulations. 

Dig deeper: Read Kent Lupino’s report in WORLD for more background on RLUIPA.