Homeless shelter owner sues city of St. Louis over closure threat

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis, New Life Evangelistic Center owner Larry Rice alleges the city has applied its laws in a way that violates the Religious Land Use and the Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, the First and Fourth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, and Missouri's Religious Freedom Restoration Act, among other things.

According to the St. Louis Business Journal, the city threatened to close the shelter because of overpopulation - it regularly houses 300 homeless people across four floors of the building, though it only has a permit allowing a maximum of 32 beds. The city has called the shelter a detriment to the downtown area.

The suit says the city's decision to declare New Life a detriment to downtown "has imposed and continues to impose a substantial burden on New Life's religious exercise."

Read more from the St. Louis Business Journal.