Islamic Center’s Allegation of Religious Targeting by Texas Funeral Services Commission Can Go Forward

From the longish opinion by Judge David Alan Ezra in East Plano Islamic Center v. Texas Funeral Servs. Comm’n, decided June 24 but just posted on Westlaw a few days ago:

East Plano Islamic Center (“EPIC”) brings this action to vindicate its right to conduct religious funeral and burial rites in accordance with Islamic faith and tradition. EPIC is a nonprofit Islamic organization in Plano, Texas, formed to “provide religious, social, and educational services to inspire the Muslim community to fulfill its responsibility and contribute to the betterment of society by following the principles of Quran and the noble life of Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him).”

One of the sincerely held religious beliefs of EPIC and its Muslim membership is the collective obligation held by the religious community to perform proper Islamic funeral rites for the deceased. Islamic religious law calls for prompt ritual cleansing, shrouding, prayer, and burial in which the integrity and dignity of the decedent’s remains are scrupulously maintained throughout. To that end, EPIC offers traditional, non-commercial, Muslim funeral services and burials; especially for Muslim families unable to afford the services. EPIC assists Muslim families by arranging and facilitating religious funeral services (washing, shrouding, and performing the Janaza prayer) in partnership with licensed funeral providers. …

Chapter 651 of the Texas Occupations Code regulates the funeral industry in Texas, requiring licensure for persons or entities that engage in the business of funeral directing or operating a funeral establishment. The Texas Funeral Services Commission (“TFSC”) is tasked with enforcing these provisions ….

On March 26, 2025, TFSC issued a cease-and-desist letter (the “C&D Letter”) to EPIC, ordering it to immediately halt what the Commission alleged were unlicensed funeral service operations. Specifically, the C&D Letter accused EPIC of operating as a funeral home without an establishment license, in violation of Texas Occupations Code § 651.351…. The C&D Letter did not include which specific practices EPIC was engaging in that were alleged to be in violation of the Occupation Code…. EPIC alleges it was not running a place of business and was not in the business of embalming or funeral directing….

EPIC contends that the TFSC’s action violates both state and federal constitutional and statutory protections for religious exercise, as well as exceeds its statutory authority. EPIC points to TFSC’s prior affirmations that religious organizations could perform burial-related rites so long as they were not doing so for profit….

The court concluded that, if the facts are as plaintiff has plausibly alleged them to be, the conduct of defendants TFSC and its then-Chair Kristin Tips would be unconstitutional:

[T]he Court finds that targeting an organization’s religious funeral rites for prohibition while allowing similar rites by others and departing from long-standing TFSC practice violates EPIC’s [clearly established] Free Exercise and Equal Protection rights ….

First, EPIC alleges that TFSC has historically recognized, as far back as 1987, that Texas law “allows a family or friends to prepare and bury a body so long as they do not receive compensation for services, file a death certificate and obtain a burial transit permit.” EPIC attaches a letter written in 1987 from the TFSC to the Islamic Center of Greater Austin confirming that it “may prepare and bury members of [its] mosque without being licensed by this agency so long as they follow the guidelines listed above.” In 2014, TFSC’s staff attorney again confirmed the same in a letter regarding the Texas Islamic Center of Houston.

EPIC alleges that for the past decade it has offered non-commercial Muslim funeral services and burials that have complied with the guidelines provided in Texas Occupations Code Chapter 651 and the guidelines provided by the TFSC itself. However, in March of 2025, TFSC allegedly changed course and issued the C&D Letter to EPIC “after years of EPIC performing the Janaza prayer without protest ….”

Lastly, EPIC discusses the alleged series of events leading up to and surrounding the C&D Letter as well as Tips’s actions around the same period, which EPIC contends demonstrate Tips’s hostility toward Islam. After EPIC began planning a development that would include housing, a mosque, a school, a senior living center, and a retail center; EPIC allegedly came under fire by “misguided activists” who saw the planned development as an “Islamic separatist agenda” that would promote “Sharia law.”

Texan politicians, including Governor Greg [Abbott] and Attorney General Ken Paxton, got involved and publicly announced that a dozen state agencies were investigating EPIC and its project. EPIC attaches several Tweets from Attorney General Paxton, Governor Abbott, and the RAIR {“Rise Align Ignite Reclaim”} Foundation founder raising the alarm about EPIC, its planned development, and the alleged rise of “Sharia law” in Texas.

To demonstrate the blatant Islamophobia of the RAIR Foundation founder, Amy Mek, EPIC highlights one of her Tweets from June 2025 which states, “At this point, if you’re not being called ‘Islamophobic,’ you’re doing something very wrong.” {As alleged, Amy Mek sparked the hysteria about Sharia law and EPIC with her 222-word Tweet in February of 2025, calling the planned development an “Islamic stronghold … pushing an Islamic separatist agenda right in the heart of Texas.” RAIR Foundation USA (“Rise Align Ignite Reclaim”) describes itself as a “grassroots activist organization comprised of everyday Americans leading a movement to reclaim our Republic from the network of individuals and organizations waging war on Americans, our Constitution, our borders and our Judeo-Christian values.”}

EPIC alleges that Tips herself “circulated and endorsed materials expressing hostility toward Islam” during the same period, “including content asserting that Muslims are ‘taught hate’ and that Islam promotes violence and inferiority compared to other religions.” She also allegedly shared a link to a Youtube video criticizing EPIC’s planned development and stating it would breed “terrorists.”

Although the text messages were sent in May of 2025, weeks after the Bingaman issued the C&D Letter, the Court agrees with EPIC that it is reasonable to infer that an official, or any individual, who expresses anti-Muslim views in May held those same views in March. Additionally, this inference is strengthened by the context of the political backlash surrounding the influx of Muslim communities and alleged “Sharia law” in North Texas, as well as Tips’s alleged communications with the Governor’s office regarding enforcement activity.

Taking the pleadings as true and drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of EPIC, the Court finds that the provided context illustrates plausible bias Tips’s alleged targeting of EPIC. When considered against the backdrop of TFSC permitting the same religious funeral rites for 38 years, the recent political backlash against EPIC’s planned development and the perceived threat accompanying the rise in the Texan Muslim population, combined with the lack of explanation in the C&D Letter identifying what specific guidelines EPIC violated, it can be reasonably inferred that the C&D Letter and Tips’s role therein was the result of religious discrimination. Therefore, considering the series of events and historical context surrounding the issuance of the C&D Letter, as the courts have done in the above cases, the Court finds that Tips’s alleged conduct and involvement in the C&D Letter violated EPIC’s clearly established right “that our laws be applied in a manner that is neutral toward religion.” …

[T]he Court finds the most support in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civ. Rts. Comm’n (2018), which similarly involved discriminatory conduct by a government body in applying and enforcing its laws in a manner that reflected religious hostility and ultimately resulted in a cease-and-desist order. The Supreme Court found that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission treated the plaintiff’s case in a manner that was “neither tolerant nor respectful of [the plaintiff’s] religious beliefs.” In reaching that conclusion, the Court considered the Commission’s disparate consideration of the plaintiff’s case compared to similarly situated cases and comments from commissioners in discussing the plaintiff’s case that reflected “clear and impermissible hostility” towards the plaintiff’s religious beliefs….

The Court has likewise considered the historical background of TSFC’s failure to enforce the law at issue against religious rites, the sequence of events and resulting political backlash against EPIC that culminated in the C&D Letter, and the alleged statements and shared content by Tips demonstrating animus toward Islam. This binding precedent should have made clear to Tips and TSFC that targeting a religious organization for differential treatment violates the Constitution….

For the foregoing reasons, the Court also finds that Tips’s alleged conduct also violates the clearly established law of the Equal Protection clause….

{Whether EPIC has, in fact, disregarded Texas or federal law in favor or “Sharia law” is not a question before the Court at this stage of the litigation. In resolving the present Order, and without purporting to be an expert in Islamic teachings, the Court simply notes the absence of any evidence or allegation that Islamic burial rites qualify as “Sharia law” of the sort that threaten Texas law, and that the C&D Letter does not identify any specific aspect of EPIC’s burial services that allegedly violates Texas law.}

Eric A. Hudson and Benjamin L. Dower (Terrazas, PLLC) represent EPIC.