San Luis hires law firm in Gethsemani lawsuit
SAN LUIS, Ariz. – The city of San Luis will legally defend itself through a law firm against the lawsuit filed by the Gethsemani Baptist Church last month.
The San Luis City Council approved allocating $50,000 as an advance payment for attorney fees to the law firm Gammage & Burnham, based in Phoenix, which will represent the city in the federal District Court in Arizona.
On March 21, the city received a lawsuit from the law firm Snell and Wilmer, representing Gethsemani and its leader, Pastor José Manuel Castro, for alleged violations of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), a federal law.
The lawsuit alleges that the city would have violated the local church’s religious rights by suspending the operation of its food ministry, for violating city codes with the use of cargo trucks in the area where the temple is located, in the downtown area.
The lawsuit is directly against the San Luis City Council, Mayor Nieves Riedel, interim administrator Jenny Torres, and Alexis Gómez, municipal code enforcement officer.
The allocation of funds to initiate the city’s legal defense was unanimously approved by councilors on Wednesday, after a lengthy closed-door discussion.
City attorney Kay Macuil said that the use of external legal services is because it is a case in a federal court, in a legal area that is not their specialty.
“They (Gammage & Burnham) are experts in that type of cases, it’s a specialized area of law, in a federal court, I have only done a few bankruptcy cases in those courts,” she said.
Both parties have indicated that, on legal advice, they cannot make statements about the case.
The initial resources approved for legal defense will be covered by the city’s General Fund.
In the report prepared for the councilors, the city attorney notes that the final amount to be paid to Gammage & Burnham may vary from the initial payment and, if the litigation extends into the next fiscal year, it may require funds from that year’s budget.