Glassman v. Arlington County, 10-1496
Taxpayer's section 1983 suit against a county for violation of the Establishment ClauseGlassman v. Arlington County, 10-1496, concerned a challenge to the district court's grant of defendants' motion to dismiss, in a taxpayer's 42 U.S.C. section 1983 suit against a county, Commonwealth of Virginia, a church, and a developer, claiming that the county's involvement in the church's development of apartments on the church-owned parcel of land violates the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
In affirming, the court held that no factual allegations exist that
support a claim that the county sought to advance the church's faith, to
spread the message of the church, or to become entangled in its
religious affairs. The court held that the county's only interest was
to accomplish the secular end of having affordable housing constructed
in a highly urban area of the county. Lastly, the court held that, to
the extent that the church and the county pursued their own goals
through a secular corporation, this interaction does not support a
plausible claim that the county acted so as to make law establishing
religion.
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