Edgewood High School of the Sacred Heart, Inc. v. City of Madison, Wisc.

Dist. Ct. did not err in granting defendant-City’s motion for summary judgment, where plaintiff-private school alleged that defendant’s decisions to deny its requests to install and use nighttime lights at its athletic field violated Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). Plaintiff failed to include nighttime lights in its master plan that was approved by defendant’s Plan Commission and Common Council, and plaintiff’s separate application for permit to construct lights was denied, after finding that permitting standards had not been met. RLUIPA requires that defendant enforce general lighting ordinances on equal basis, and record failed to show that defendant treated plaintiff less favorably than other institutions, and in any event plaintiff, as master plan institution, was not sufficiently similar to institutions not subject to master plans, Too, record showed no unequal treatment with respect to plaintiff’s permit application. Moreover, Dist. Ct. could properly find that plaintiff was not substantially burdened in exercise of its religious mission by not being able to install lights at its athletic field for nighttime games.