A federal civil jury awarded more than $3.7 million yesterday to
a Seventh-day Adventist church after finding that the Prince
George's County government discriminated against the church by
blocking its efforts to build a sanctuary in Laurel.
At U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, the jury deliberated for
about seven hours over two days before delivering its verdict.
Jurors found that the county's actions were motivated at least in
part by discriminatory intent against a religious institution.
In the lawsuit, the historically black church, Reaching Hearts,
contends that county officials used zoning regulations "to keep
African American churches out of" the county and to prevent such
churches ...