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"For instance, here in Alabama," Palmer warned, "it was the churches that rallied, contributed money to the campaign but, really rallied behind defeating a lottery.

"And the churches have been the mainstay of opposition to expansion of gambling in Alabama," he continued, "so much so that one state legislator proposed that -- if churches continue to block these gambling measures that he says would bring substantial revenue to the state -- then, perhaps, they should look at taxing church property."

Leland said, however, that the Kelo decision is not as much of a "devastating blow" to religious groups' property rights as it could have been "because of the strength of the First Amendment and federal and state laws.

"An added or extra level of protection for religious institutions has been stripped away by the court," Leland said. "Nevertheless, there are some very sturdy shoulders to lean on in the First Amendment and federal law."

Palmer is not so optimistic.

"That's one court decision away from meaning nothing," he argued, adding that the same court that just expanded the definition of "public use" in the Fifth Amendment could limit the scope of the "free exercise" of religion in the First Amendment.

"Kelo is the logical progression of activist judges," Palmer continued. "Activism, by either side, undermines the rule of law and, when one side or the other starts making up new rights or denying existing rights, all the rights are undermined."

Sekulow noted that the federal law most often used to fight encroachment on a church's property rights -- the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) -- has not been contested in the Supreme Court ... yet.

"I think it's an open-ended question right now, and we don't know how the courts are going to deal with that," Sekulow said. "[Someone is] going to test the constitutionality of RULIPA.

"I think it's important to also get state law changes in place," he added.

Lawmakers in Texas appeared to be acting on Sekulow's advice even before he gave it. State senators Wednesday passed Senate Bill 62, which would block city, county and state agencies there from taking advantage of the high court's decision.

The Becket Fund cited 10 cases in its "friend of the court" brief, in which a municipality is or was trying to seize a church's private property and give or sell it to another private entity for commercial development. Without laws such as the one proposed in Texas, Leland warned that the Kelo decision could make such attempts more common.

"One could actually argue that St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City is in jeopardy of being seized [on behalf of], possibly, Donald Trump, who promises to increase the economic interests and generate greater tax revenue in the city," Leland said.

"Granted, that is a stretch of an example only because of the social and political implications that would have," he concluded. "But it's certainly possible under this new standard."

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