Today, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization, hailed a unanimous decision handed down this morning by the US Supreme Court upholding the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.

The Supreme Court this morning handed down its decision in the Cutter v.
Wilkinson case, reversing the 6th Circuit’s opinion. In a decision written by Justice Ginsberg, the Court held that RLUIPA on its face does not violate the Establishment Clause. RLUIPA, the Court stated, fits within the “corridor between the Religion Clauses: On its face, the Act qualifies as a permissible legislative accommodation of religion that is not barred by the Establishment Clause.” The Court recognized the need for prisons to maintain security, but said: “We have no cause to believe that RLUIPA would not be applied in an appropriately balanced way,. . .”

Commenting on the decision, Nathan Diament, the Union’s director of public policy, stated: We are deeply gratified that the Supreme Court has unanimously ratified the constitutionality of legislative accommodations of religious liberty. The Court’s decision’s power as precedent cannot be overstated. It will serve to advance the cause of religious liberty in America.