More than three decades ago, I walked across the stage at the University of Detroit School of Law to accept my Juris Doctor degree. Like most fresh law graduates, I had a head full of grand constitutional theories, a stack of American Jurisprudence Book Awards, and a profound uncertainty about where the practical realities of the legal profession would take me.
My journey eventually led me to co-found Dalton & Tomich, PLC, where, for the past 30 years, my daily life has been consumed by a highly specialized, deeply volatile niche: land-use, zoning litigation, and religious property disputes. I have spent my career navigating the delicate, friction-filled space where religious groups seek to exercise their faith, and local municipal authorities seek to enforce secular codes.
This upcoming Fall semester, my career path comes full circle. I am returning to my alma mater, the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, to teach a comprehensive course on Law and Religion.
This course will not merely be an academic exercise in reading century-old Supreme Court precedents. Instead, it will serve as a practical, real-world laboratory exploring how ancient theological structures, modern constitutional mandates, and hyper-local politics collide in twenty-first-century courtrooms
The Evolving Landscape of Religious Liberty
When I first entered practice in the early 1990s, the legal framework governing religious property and land use was wildly different from what it is today. Municipalities held immense leverage, and religious entities frequently found themselves pushed to the margins of communities by zoning codes that favored commercial tax bases over houses of worship.
The entire paradigm shifted in 2000 when Congress unanimously passed the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), 42 U.S.C. § 2000cc (p. 13). RLUIPA was designed to protect churches, mosques, synagogues, and other religious institutions from discriminatory or unduly burdensome zoning regulations.
Over the past quarter-century, RLUIPA has transformed from a novel statutory experiment into one of the most powerful tools in federal civil rights litigation. Yet, despite its longevity, the statute remains a battlefield. Local governments still struggle to balance public safety, infrastructure, and zoning harmony with robust federal protections for religious exercise.
In our class, we will dissect these nuances. We will look at how courts define a “substantial burden” on religious exercise. Is a denial of a steeple height variance a substantial burden? What about a complete ban on a house of worship within a commercial district? We will examine the “Equal Terms” provision of RLUIPA, tracking how municipalities frequently find themselves in federal court when they allow a secular assembly, such as a theater or fraternal lodge, but ban an identical religious assembly.
Inside the Courtroom: Real-World Litigating
To truly understand Law and Religion, students must see it through the eyes of a litigator. My own practice has taken me before planning commissions, zoning boards, and federal district courts across the United States—from the Eastern District of Michigan to the Southern District of California. I intend to bring those active, ongoing battlegrounds directly into the classroom.
We will explore notable, landmark disputes that have shaped modern RLUIPA jurisprudence. For instance, we will review cases like:
- American Islamic Community Center v. City of Sterling Heights (E.D. Mich.): A poignant case study regarding the intense intersections of local community resistance, media scrutiny, and federal civil rights protections for religious minorities building houses of worship.
- Academy of Our Lady of Peace v. City of San Diego (S.D. Cal.): A multi-million-dollar land-use battle that illustrated the extreme lengths to which historical preservation codes and neighborhood opposition can push a religious institution.
- Tree of Life Christian Schools v. City of Upper Arlington (U.S. Supreme Court): An analysis of how the Equal Terms provision is interpreted differently across federal circuits, featuring the amicus brief work presented directly to the highest court in the land.
Students will not just learn what the law is; they will learn how to build a case. They will learn how to review a municipal master plan, read between the lines of public planning commission minutes, and identify the exact moments when bureaucratic discretion crosses the line into unconstitutional discrimination.
The Hidden Crisis: Denominational Departures and Trust Clauses
While land-use and zoning litigation occupies a massive portion of the field, there is another, deeply internal side to Law and Religion that is currently destabilizing communities across America: denominational property disputes.
We are currently living through a historic theological realignment. Across the country, thousands of local churches have agonized over separating from their parent denominations due to shifting theological doctrines or governance disputes. When a local congregation votes to leave, a high-stakes, legally complex question immediately arises: Who owns the building?
For generations, mainline denominations—such as the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church (USA), and various Episcopal and Orthodox bodies—have embedded “trust clauses” into their corporate books of discipline. These clauses state that all local church property is held “in trust” for the benefit of the national denomination.
When a separation occurs, local trustees find themselves in state or federal courts fighting for the keys to properties their families have funded, built, and maintained for over a century.
Having represented several denominations and hundreds of local congregations and regional entities in these exact splits—ranging from the Jonesboro First United Methodist Church case in Arkansas to The Korean Presbyterian Church Abroad case in Los Angeles—I know firsthand how emotionally fraught and legally intricate these matters are.
In our coursework, we will trace the evolution of the “Neutral Principles of Law” approach, a doctrine established by the U.S. Supreme Court in Jones v. Wolf (1979). This doctrine allows secular civil courts to adjudicate internal religious property disputes by examining deeds, local church charters, and state corporation laws, entirely independent of religious dogma.
We will analyze how different states interpret these principles. Why does a church in Ohio or Michigan have a completely different legal path to freedom than a church in Florida or Texas? Understanding these state-by-state variations is critical for any aspiring property or corporate attorney.
Bridging the Gap: Academic Roots and Practical Experience
Returning to teach at Detroit Mercy Law is an immense honor, primarily because my service on the Dean’s Advisory Board of Directors since 2011 has kept me closely aligned with the law school’s mission. Detroit Mercy has always championed a curriculum that fuses exceptional academic rigor with a deep commitment to social justice and practical clinical experience.
When I wrote House of God, Laws of Man: Religious Property Disputes (published by the American Bar Association in 2021), my goal was to provide a definitive manual for practitioners caught in the middle of these complex cases. I wanted to demystify an area of law that many general practice attorneys find intimidating.
My approach in the classroom will be exactly the same. We will break down the academic barriers and treat the syllabus like an active law firm file. Students will practice:
- Drafting RLUIPA complaints that can withstand aggressive motions to dismiss.
- Analyzing municipal ordinances to spot facial and as-applied constitutional defects.
- Advising a hypothetical non-profit board of trustees—both from a denominational perspective and a local church viewpoint—on how to navigate a denominational exit without losing their corporate assets.
Why This Course Matters Today
The study of Law and Religion is no longer an insular elective reserved for constitutional purists. In our increasingly pluralistic, highly litigious society, these issues touch almost every facet of modern civil practice.
If you go into municipal law, you will inevitably have to advise a city council on how to handle a controversial religious land-use application without exposing the city to a catastrophic federal damages claim under RLUIPA.
If you practice real estate or corporate law, you will encounter religious non-profits, faith-based healthcare entities, and parochial schools trying to navigate complex transactions, financing, and zoning approvals within strict statutory boundaries.
If you choose a path in civil rights or constitutional appellate advocacy, you will find that the current Supreme Court has a profound, unprecedented interest in expanding Free Exercise clause protections, completely rewriting the rules of the game on a yearly basis.
To my future students at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law: I challenge you to come to this class with an open mind, a sharp analytical eye, and a willingness to engage with some of the most sensitive, deeply felt debates in American history.
Religion shapes how people live, gather, and view their purpose in the universe. The law shapes how those people occupy physical space, structure their businesses, and interact with the state. Where those two forces meet, you will find some of the most fascinating, complex, and impactful litigation in the country.
I am ready to unpack it all with you this Fall. See you at the University of Detroit, School of Law.
Daniel P. Dalton is a founding member of Dalton & Tomich, PLC, and the author of multiple books on religious land use and property disputes published by the American Bar Association (pp. 1, 16). He will join the faculty of the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law as an adjunct professor in the Fall of 2026.
