A church in Bryan, Ohio recently notched a win that religious liberty advocates believe will set a new precedent after the city attempted to shut down the church using fire codes.

Last Friday, Ohio’s Sixth District Court of Appeals reversed an injunction against the church, called Dad’s Place, and its pastor, Chris Avell, from being able to carry out religious ministry to the homeless and providing them with temporary shelter. The legal questions in the case centered around the relationship between religious liberty and municipal codes, with an eye to ensuring religious organizations are not unnecessarily burdened.

Ryan Gardner, senior counsel for First Liberty Institute, told The Daily Signal that the law requires “the least restrictive test possible,” when dealing with religious organizations. “You have to infringe on religious liberty with as light a touch as possible. And that’s the test that the court says applies here, and that’s why it sent the case back down to the trial court to correctly apply that… test.”

Gardner claimed, also referring to sentiments shared by Attorney General Dave Yost, that, in this case, Bryan, Ohio was seeking to use “petty tools of government to shut down a disfavored ministry” in the form of fire codes. The Daily Signal also reached out to Yost’s office for further comment on the case.

A report from WTOL Toledo highlighted how the trial court must reconsider the case based not on the rational basis standard that had been used, but rather the strict scrutiny standard according to the Ohio Constitution Conscience Clause. Also relevant is the Ohio Supreme Court case of Humphrey v. Lane, a 2000 decision to do with grooming policies at the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, which violated the practices of a Native American officer.

The First Liberty Institute press release cited the opinion and its instructions for the lower court. “Because the trial court erred in failing to address [Dad’s Place’s] arguments under the Ohio Conscience Clause we must remand the case to the trial court for further proceedings. On remand, the trial court is directed to consider [Dad’s Place’s] claim under the Ohio Constitution and to reconsider [Dad’s Place’s] free exercise claim under the U.S. Constitution using a strict scrutiny analysis,” it read.

A press release from First Liberty detailed how Bryan, Ohio has gone after Dad’s Place and Avell, using “multiple criminal and civil proceedings, including 18 criminal zoning charges, middle-of-the-night fire inspections, and both criminal and civil fire code prosecutions.”

The press release also noted that this is “while city officials demand the church install an expensive fire suppression system, the city does not require any of its motels, most of its apartment complexes, and even a senior living facility to install fire suppression systems in their buildings.”

Fire codes have been so onerous that many buildings have been grandfathered in, Gardner explained to The Daily Signal. These codes are often burdensome for-profit organizations, Gardner added, and Dad’s Place would not have been able to comply with the fire code restrictions.

Gardner stressed that “vast discretion” is used to enforce fire codes, which, along with laws such as zoning codes and nuisance laws, are “highly discretionary” and can be used against organizations that may be deemed disfavored compared to others. The court’s holding, therefore, is “monumental for religious ministries” not merely in Ohio but “across the country,” Gardner explained.

Gardner further applied this test to churches being more burdened than secular places during COVID-19 lockdowns, as well as recent U.S. Supreme Court cases. With Fulton v. Philadelphia, the Court in 2021 unanimously found that the City of Philadelphia violated a Catholic foster agency by refusing to renew a contract unless same-sex couples were allowed to be certified as foster parents.

The Daily Signal reached out to the City of Bryan for comment on the case.

Friday’s court win is not the end of the road, however. Pastor Chris Avell’s appeal of a criminal conviction against him is still pending. Nevertheless, Gardner sees such a victory as “a turning point in the case,” and one that means “the turkey is going to taste a little better” given how close the victory came to Thanksgiving.

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