BRYAN — A state appellate court has reversed a Williams County judge’s ruling of almost a year ago that forbade Dad’s Place from providing a place for homeless people to rest in Bryan while the city pursues a civil case against it.

The three-judge panel of the Ohio 6th District Court of appeals ruled Friday that the common pleas ruling did not adequately assess the Ohio Constitution’s applicability to the case. Specifically, the judges ruled, the lower court did not use a “strict scrutiny analysis” to determine whether Bryan officials’ enforcement of fire codes against the storefront church interferes with religious practice under the state constitution.

“Under Ohio law, a court must apply strict scrutiny to all free exercise claims, even those involving religiously neutral, evenly appli

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