O'Hare expansion partially halted over cemetery and religious concerns

Expansion of the world's busiest airport--and for many people the only part of Chicago they've ever step foot in--O'Hare International Airport, came to a partial halt today largely because of a cemetery that dates back to the 19th century.

St. John's Cemetery is completely within the fenced-border of O'Hare. The new O'Hare runway matrix will require--says the City of Chicago--that the cemetery be moved.

From Thursday's Chicago Tribune (free registration required):

Lawyers for St. John's United Church of Christ in Bensenville say that by moving the graves of the German immigrants who settled suburban Chicago, the Federal Aviation Administration and the city would violate the church's 1st Amendment right to exercise its religious beliefs.

They also say state legislators discriminated against the church when they passed a law in 2003 excluding the cemetery from another state law that prohibits government from putting "a substantial burden" on religious practice.

It goes on...

At the crux of the cemetery backers' argument are the federal and state Religious Freedom Restoration Acts. Following the model of other states and a federal law, Illinois passed the act in 1998 that says government must have a strong reason to pass laws or policies that impose upon religious groups or acts.

But in 2003, the Illinois legislature passed the O'Hare Modernization Act, giving Chicago the authority to move ahead with expansion plans, including condemning and acquiring property. That measure effectively stripped the cemetery of its legal protections under the state's religious restoration act.

Interesting case...and later that Thursday:

From AP:

The city's planned expansion of O'Hare International Airport hit another snag Thursday when a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order that bars the city from bulldozing homes and businesses and relocating graves.

However, construction work already underway on the $15 billion project -- including work begun last month on a new runway -- can continue, city officials said.
U.S. District Judge David Coar's order follows a request by cemetery owners and the suburbs of Elk Grove Village and Bensenville to halt work in areas where the homes, businesses and graves are located until he considers the opponents' request to stop the project.

The 10-day restraining order applies only to the affected area, where the city plans to remove 2,600 residents, 200 businesses and 1,300 graves to build another runway. The judge's ruling does not affect that phase of the project because that work is not scheduled to begin until late next year at the earliest, said project spokesman Roderick Drew.

In comments exclusive to Marathon Pundit, Andy Norman of the law firm of Mauck and Baker said:

"We are pleased that Judge Coar in his decision to grant this stay spoke of the importance of the feelings of the loved ones for their families that had been buried in the cemetery for generations. We also think that by defending the religious liberty of St. John's Church to preserve its cemetery, our plaintiffs are also saving the residents of the Chicago area from a wasteful multi-billion dollar Daley pork barrel project that will not deliver increased flight efficiency. We expect to introduce overwhelming evidence to that effect if Judge Coar rules this matter should go to trial".

The Chicago law firm Mauck and Baker is busy one; they're also representing Thomas Klocek in his free-speech battle with DePaul University. Also, to prove they support the rights of other religions, they're also the firm that represented a Morton Grove (where I live) mosque in it's legal fight with village authorities in that northern suburb of Chicago.