DEYAN RANKO BRASHICH, PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT,
v.
THE PORT AUTHORITY OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY, ALAN SAGNER, AND JOHN DOE #1 THROUGH #10 INCLUSIVE, NAMES BEING FICTITIOUS BUT TO BE SUPPLIED AT COMPLETION OF DISCOVERY; ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF THE SKIES; THE COUNCIL OF CHURCHES OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK, INC., AND THE INTERNATIONAL SYNAGOGUE AND JEWISH CENTER, INC., DEFENDANTS-APPELLEES

2d Cir. | 1980-04-28
Nos. 1090, Docket 80-7017
Before KAUFMAN, Chief Judge, OAKES, Circuit Judge, and TENNEY, District Judge.
791 F.2d 224 United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1980)

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Holding

The court held that while the district court's dismissal for lack of standing was questionable, the judgment on the merits was correct and supported by evidence.


Facts & Procedural History

Plaintiff challenged the leasing of airport land to religious groups for chapels, alleging unconstitutional subsidy and violation of the Establishment…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM:

PER CURIAM:

Deyan Brashich’s trial before Judge Pierce ended in dismissal of his complaint on the merits and for lack of standing to sue. Brashich brought this suit to challenge the leasing of land at JFK Airport to three religious groups, for the purpose of constructing chapels. He claimed that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport, subsidizes the chapels in numerous ways, and that in any case, the erection of denominational houses of worship on public lands in the absence of residential necessity for the provision of such services constitutes a violation of the Establishment Clause.

The Third Circuit’s recent decision in Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Inc. v. United States Department of Health, Education & Welfare, 619 F. 2d 252 (3d Cir.1980)1 casts substantial doubt upon the district court’s determination that appellant lacks standing to sue. The court there held that alleged injury to a noneconomic concern for the separation of church and state conferred standing upon a nonprofit corporation dedicated to advancing this principle to challenge transfers of land by H.E.W. to religious groups at less than fair market value. See Anderson v. Salt Lake City Corp., 475 F. 2d 29 (10th Cir.1973).

The judgment of the district court on the merits was fully supported by the evidence and correct as a matter of law. There is substantial evidence in the record to support the finding that “the Port Authority does not sponsor, subsidize or interfere with the religious groups which operate chapels at the Airport. Nor does it advise them on the conduct of their institutions.” Moreover, there is no merit in appellant’s claim that the availability of houses of worship in the vicinity of the airport renders the leases here at issue unconstitutional. While it is true that government may be required by the Free Exercise clause to accommodate religious practices on government property where no private chapel facilities are available, see Cruz v. Beto, 405 U.S. 319, 92 S.Ct. 1079, 31 L.Ed.2d 263 (1972), no case has held that in the absence of such residential necessity, a governmental accommodation to religion, without subsidy or excessive entanglements, constitutes a violation of the Establishment Clause.

Accordingly, the judgment of the district court is affirmed.

. Because the case at bar, 628 F. 2d 1344, was decided on April 28, 1980, by summary order, it did not have the appropriate citation to the case in the text. The proper citation is Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Inc. v. United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare, 619 F. 2d 252 (3d Cir.1980), rev'd sub nom. Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Inc., 454 U.S. 464, 102 S.Ct. 752, 70 L.Ed.2d 700 (1982).


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