Marks v. City of Chesapeake
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
883 F.2d 308 (1989)
After Chesapeake's (defendant) city council rezoned Marks's (plaintiff) property for commercial use and its planning commission approved a conditional-use permit for his palmistry business without any public opposition, residents raised religious objections for the first time at the final city-council approval stage, and the council denied the permit; two council members later testified at trial that the religious opposition swayed their decision, while the planning director testified the business would have caused no adverse neighborhood effects. Marks sued under § 1983 for a substantive due process violation, and the district court found the city acted arbitrarily and capriciously in denying the permit.
Whether the denial of a permit based purely on religious prejudice expressed by members of the public is a violation of due process under the Fourteenth Amendment.