⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

A North Carolina church's search for a permanent campus raises a question about who controls local zoning. Summit Church's Chapel Hill congregation holds services in a high school. It sought rezoning for its own campus, but Chatham County rejected the proposal in December twenty twenty-four. The church sued under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, known as RLUIPA. That law protects religious exercise against certain zoning burdens and discrimination. The district judge temporarily blocked the denial but expressly refused to order approval. This appeal turns on that distinction: does telling the county it cannot deny the application effectively force it to approve? Steven Bader, for the county, will argue that a federal court cannot dictate a local legislative choice. Listen for anti-commandeering: constitutional limits on federal commands to state governments. The judges will ask whether restrictions on Congress also restrict courts enforcing federal rights.

Summit Church v. Chatham County (No. 25-1832) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, argued October 27, 2026.