Ryan Gardner (JD ‘16) and Ryan Hiepler (JD ‘22) File Successful Temporary Restraining Order in Houston Religious Liberty Case

Pepperdine Caruso Law alumni Ryan Gardner (JD ‘16) and Ryan Hiepler (JD ‘22) filed a successful temporary restraining order in the religious liberty case Heimish of Houston v. The City of Houston. Gardner is counsel for First Liberty Institute. Hiepler is an associate at Burke Law Group PLLC and was a member of the first cohort of students in the Caruso Law Hugh and Hazel Darling Religious Liberty Clinic.

First Liberty and Burke Law Group filed the order against city officials in Houston who refused to restore power to a small Orthodox Jewish synagogue as Hanukkah approached. The synagogue won its battle against the city and had its heat and electricity restored in time for the annual Jewish festival of lights beginning on December 7.

From the First Liberty press release:

“The city’s actions are punitive and unfair,” said Ryan Gardner, Counsel for First Liberty Institute. “The city’s refusal to cooperate with Heimish has substantially burdened this small congregation’s free exercise of their religion as they are left to worship in the dark with major religious festivals like Hanukkah just around the corner.”

Ryan Hiepler, associate at Burke Law Group PLLC added, “The law is clear that the City must have a compelling interest and use the least restrictive means when burdening a religious group like this. Completely cutting off electricity to a synagogue during the coldest period of the year with no ability to quickly turn it back on over a small permitting violation is as restrictive as it gets.”

Heimish of Houston has been meeting in a building near its congregants for several years.  The members of Heimish are limited to holding religious gatherings in their communities because of their religious prohibition against driving on the Sabbath.  In recent years, the city repeatedly exhibited antagonism towards Heimish’s use of the synagogue in a residential neighborhood for religious purposes.  After Heimish filed a lawsuit in 2021, the city abandoned its efforts against Heimish.

More recently, the synagogue suffered a significant malfunction of its electrical equipment that resulted in a loss of power to its property.  However, because Heimish was red-tagged due to some minor repairs and beautification that it was not aware it needed to be permitted, the city has refused to issue the necessary permit to restore their electricity.  Although Heimish of Houston is working to address the red-tag issues, the lack of electrical power to the synagogue in the meantime is preventing its ability to conduct religious ceremonies at its place of worship.  Moreover, the City informed Heimish that the process of rectifying and addressing the permitting issues will take more than 30 days. However, Hanukkah begins on December 7. Without power, the synagogue will not be able to host any religious gatherings, including for Hanukkah.

The complaint states, “This enforcement by the City has substantially burdened Heimish and its member’s free exercise of their religion as they are left to worship in the dark and cold in the middle of the winter with major religious festivals like Hanukkah . . . just around the corner.”

The complete press release may be found at First Liberty

The story was also featured in the Chron article, “Small Houston Synagogue Fights City to Get Lights Turned on Before Hanukkah”

Excerpts from Chron:

This week, First Liberty Institute and Burke Law Group filed a restraining order and injunctive relief against the city to stop government officials from interfering with efforts to restore electricity. They asked the court to acknowledge how city officials violated the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code and the Fair Housing Act.

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These requests sped the process up and by Friday, the plaintiffs' attorneys reached an agreement with the city during a court hearing to "temporarily remove the hold" on the property and "allow" the synagogue to get its much-needed electrical permit Friday. The city also agreed to perform an inspection and an investigation that same day. If the synagogue passed, the city would "immediately authorize" CenterPoint to restore its power.

The complete article may be found at Chron

The complaint may be found at Heimish of Houston v. The City of Houston