WND is lying, zoning wasn’t changed to block the school. The school applies for a special use permit, and was denied due to traffic concerns. The school might be justified in their complaint, but there no reason to overblow this story, which is just small town nimby politics, not part of some greater narrative of Christian oppression.
I posted more links here than just to WND. I’ll include the other two, from One News Now and CBN, at the bottom. The secular media didn’t cover this latest development, apparently preferring to keep mum, but I saw several MSM articles going back a few years.
The school was also defended in court by a non-profit called First Liberty, presumably because they’ve seen it as a Constitutional rights case. At least one article makes the point that more than one location was considered and the town was determined not to have the school locate anywhere within its limits.
I haven’t yet, from the six or seven articles I’ve had time to read so far, gotten to the bottom of it myself, but I still lean towards believing the Christian school’s rights were violated. And if I’m not mistaken, there’s also the matter of the lower court ruling seeming to be overly broad in it decision against the school, and the Supreme Court allowing that decision to stand.
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“[The city refused to let LCS move to the church] or, for that matter, anywhere else in town [despite the fact that] federal law expressly prohibits the government using zoning laws to keep religious institutions out of their town,” Sasser pointed out.
And when the Christian school discovered a last resort – that, too, was quashed by city officials.
“They found only one viable option – LCS entered into an agreement with Brighton Church of the Nazarene to lease one of its buildings to house the school,” First Liberty’s legal team recounted, according to WND. “[But this alternative was soon shot down, as the township board refused to let LCS relocate] anywhere within Genoa Township.”
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Hiram Sasser, general counsel at First Liberty believes the Supreme Court’s decision not to review the case could set a precedent for other cities and towns officials.
“This is a deeply disappointing decision, not only because of what it means for our clients but because it will embolden other cities and towns across the country to keep religious organizations from contributing to their community,” Sasser said in a statement.
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https://www.onenewsnow.com/legal-courts/2018/05/02/scotus-allows-christian-schools-banishment
https://firstliberty.org/cases/livingston-christian-schools/