Constitutional Law
Condo Owners with Religious Objections to Tree-Killing Risk Losing Unit
A Chicago-area mother and daughter risk losing their condo in a tax sale because of their objections to an alley paving project that violated their religious beliefs.
Padma Rao and her 72-year-old mother refused to pay the $635 tax assessment for the 2007 project, resulting in a legal fight that cost suburban Evanston an estimated $40,000 in legal bills, the Evanston Review reports. The mother-daughter duo claimed the project spelled doom for a tree that sat partly on condo property, violating Hindu precepts that forbid the needless killing of any living thing.
The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to grant cert in the case for a second time, the story says.
