The National Religious Broadcasters organization filed a brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review a religious liberty appeal out of San Antonio, Texas.
The issue centers around Gary Perez and Matilde Torres, who originally filed the case in 2023 to preserve a two-acre wooded portion of San Antonio’s Brackenridge Park from municipal construction projects and bird deterrence efforts.
Perez and Torres are Native Americans who belong to the Native American Church. The two-acre habitat is sacred to their religious practice, according to the NRB.
“This sets a dangerous precedent,” the NRB wrote. “NRB stepped in to point out this grave threat to the religious liberty of all Americans and call the Supreme Court’s attention to specific errors in the lower courts’ analysis.”
The city’s planned projects would remove trees and the cormorants that nest in them. The NRB said those changes would prevent Perez and Torres from holding required religious ceremonies.
“And the city targeted only this small space, leaving the rest of the park untouched,” the NRB wrote in its brief.
In a statement to National Public Radio, San Antonio Assistant Director of Communications Brian Chasnoff said the city’s tree removal plan will improve water quality, increase park access and boost wildlife biodiversity.
The federal district court initially ruled against Perez and Torres, and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ultimately affirmed that decision following state court proceedings. The lower courts held that the city’s plan did not substantially burden the plaintiffs’ free exercise of religion, and that even if it did, the project satisfied strict scrutiny standards.
The NRB argued the lower courts misapplied strict scrutiny because the city’s plan was not the least restrictive means to achieve its public safety goals.
The Supreme Court ordered the city of San Antonio to file a response to the petition for certiorari by Sept. 30, after which the justices will decide whether to grant review.
