Justice Department to Participate in Zoning Disability Case in Richmond Township, Michigan - 1/11/2010

Washington, DC - The Justice Department today filed a brief as a friend of the court in Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Center Inc. v. Richmond Township and Richmond Township Planning Commission, a civil rights case regarding the expansion of an addictive disorders treatment facility in Macomb County, Mich. The government’s brief supports a lawsuit filed by Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Center, which runs a nondenominational charitable services organization to serve indigent individuals with a range of addictive disorders, including alcoholism. The matter is being handled jointly by the Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.

In 2007, Sacred Heart applied for a building permit to renovate and expand its existing facility, and to erect a new building. The expansion would allow Sacred Heart to centralize its admission process and to house the Clearview Specialty Women and Children Program, which provides specialized rehabilitative residential care for women who need to bring their children with them into treatment, and pregnant women who have addiction problems and require specialized treatment. Richmond Township, Mich., denied Sacred Heart’s requested zoning permit on Sept. 19, 2007.