JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit Monday against the City of Brunswick, Georgia, accusing it of violating federal law by trying to shut down a faith-based homeless shelter.
First Coast News first reported The Well, a faith-based shelter for those experiencing homelessness, was being sued by the City of Brunswick in August, 2023, who called it a "public nuisance" and demanded it shut down after several violent incidents linked to the homeless population.
The lawsuit references community complaints about people who frequent The Well claiming some are selling “drugs, urinating [and] defecating” in the area adjacent to the shelter.
After the day shelter closes, the suit claims, those experiencing homelessness remain on site “congregating, camping, sleeping or fighting.”
The lawsuit said The Well claims city officials are violating their client’s First Amendment rights. However, The Well declined to comment on the suit.
The lawsuit claims police received 294 calls for service at The Well in 2018, and in 2023, that increased to 457 calls.
First Coast News is working on obtaining an updated ruling on the lawsuit against The Well.
The DOJ said Brunswick is in violation of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, a federal law protecting religious institutions from "unduly burdensome or discriminatory" land use regulations, through its efforts to close down the shelter.
“Federal law protects the right of religious groups such as The Well to use their land to help others,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The division will continue to vindicate the rights of groups to exercise their religion and fight local land use laws that unlawfully restrict those rights.”
The lawsuit was filed Monday in federal court.
The DOJ said In public filings seeking federal funding, the city touted The Well’s services as part of the city’s efforts to reduce and end homelessness, but the city later engaged in a campaign to close The Well, blaming it for unrelated criminal activity in Brunswick. The DOJ said The Well adopted safety and security measures suggested by the Brunswick Police Department, the city filed a lawsuit in state court seeking to close it.
The complaint alleges that the city’s efforts to close The Well have imposed a substantial burden on The Well’s religious exercise, that the city lacks a compelling interest and has not employed the least restrictive means of enforcing its purported interest.
The lawsuit will seek to ban Brunswick from "substantially burdening" The Well's religious exercise.
