Fraternal order isn't protected religious land use

In the case of Los Angeles Scottish Rite Center, LLC v. City of Los Angeles the United States Supreme Court has declined to review a case in which a California appellate court held that a city did not impermissibly burden a nonprofit fraternal order's religious beliefs, in violation of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), in placing restrictions on the use of a cathedral and eventually revoking its certificate of occupancy after several years of public nuisance abatement proceedings over commercial use of the cathedral's auditorium for entertainment events by a related entity to which the order leased the premises. The California court held that a burden on a commercial enterprise used to fund a religious organization did not constitute a substantial burden on religious exercise within the meaning of RLUIPA. The restrictions initially placed on the use of the cathedral, prompted by inadequate parking facilities, restricted its use to charitable and nonprofit organizations only. The petition asked whether the forced closure of a facility used for religious exercise presented a "substantial burden" on religious exercise, absent a demonstration that such closure is the least restrictive means of achieving a compelling governmental interest. (Case below: Scottish Rite Cathedral Ass'n of Los Angeles v. City of Los Angeles (2007) 156 Cal.App.4th 108.