A judge again ruled in favor of a Seventh Day Adventist church whose bid to build a sanctuary in Laurel has been stymied for years by the Prince George’s County Council.
Reaching Hearts International, after winning a $3.7 million religious discrimination lawsuit against the county in 2008, again had its request for a water and sewer regulation change denied by the County Council this summer.
In the latest case, U.S. District Court Judge Roger Titus on Wednesday ordered the county to vacate its denial of the water and sewer service category change and process the request, without prejudice, within 60 days.
Titus wrote that the council’s reasons for denying the sewer change this summer closely mirrored the same reasons given in the 2008 trial – which the county lost after the court ruled the council’s decision was motivated partly by religious discrimination.
The latest ruling, almost verbatim of the judge’s ruling in 2008, “should eliminate any possible misunderstanding” the county may have, Titus wrote.
Though Titus did not order the church’s request be approved, his decision makes denying the request once more a daunting task for the council. If the council chooses to deny the request, the case will be taken to trial to determine if its actions constitute a continuation of discrimination against the church.
The county has spent $3.7 million in damages from the 2008 ruling, and another $872,122 in legal fees.
Titus pointed to the continued objections to the church by the West Laurel Civic Association – of which former Councilman Tom Dernoga and Councilwoman Mary Lehman, D-Laurel, are past presidents – as the real motivation behind the council’s action.
“The members of the Prince George’s County Council need to step back and ponder what structure and tradition have brought them in this case, and what it may produce for the in the future,” Titus wrote.
