FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 2, 2015
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Chicago loses battle in 10-year case against inner-city ministry
(Chicago, Illinois—June 2, 2015) For the second time, a three-judge panel of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Chicago and in favor of World Outreach Conference Center, an inner-city ministry serving the poor in the Roseland neighborhood. The nearly 10-year old case started in the fall of 2005 when Alderman Beale of the 9th Ward and the city of Chicago prevented World Outreach from taking over a former YMCA.
Though World Outreach intended to use the building for similar services as the YMCA, the city of Chicago rezoned the YMCA as a manufacturing zone and then filed a lawsuit aimed at preventing World Outreach from carrying on charitable and religious activities. The 7th Circuit described the City’s suit as “frivolous,” “possibly malevolent,” and a “substantial burden” on World Outreach’s religious activities. World Outreach sought to keep the community center open to the Roseland Community and to make the 168 single-room occupancy units available for affordable housing. Shortly after World Outreach acquired the YMCA in 2005, FEMA needed living quarters in Chicago for as many as 10,000 Hurricane Katrina victims. World Outreach volunteered its rooms but the city “erroneously” refused to grant World Outreach the permits it needed. FEMA was forced to look elsewhere. The city of Chicago did not provide World Outreach with permits until August 2007.
The case will proceed to trial in the United States District Court. The jury will be asked to consider the role of Alderman Beale in preventing World Outreach’s ministries from using the building and if the city should be liable for damages. “The 7th Circuit’s opinion will allow a jury to see how a city that claims to care for the child victims of gang violence and for the homeless actually operates when these goals conflict with corrupt aldermanic practices,” said John Mauck of Mauck & Baker, attorney for World Outreach.
The 7th Circuit noted in its opinion, “Chicago alderman are powerful figures in the city’s political system, and Alderman Beale may have pressured the City’s zoning department from using the building as it intended even though the intended use would be virtually identical to that of its predecessor.” “We praise God for this victory,” said World Outreach Director Pamela Blossom. “World Outreach will continue to thrive and provide a safe place for youth to stay away from gang activity in a Christcentered community.” View the opinion. For press inquiries, contact attorney John Mauck at 312-853-8709 or jmauck@mauckbaker.com and attorney Noel W. Sterett at 312-726-6454 or nsterett@mauckbaker.com.