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Baker (D) owned a house in Plainfield. The zoning restricted usage to a single-family dwelling. On three separate occasions in 1976 D was charged with and found guilty of allowing more than one family to reside in his home in violation of a Plainfield Zoning Ordinance, 17:11-2. The home was shared by nine individuals, Mr. and Mrs. Baker, and their three children and Mrs. Conata and her three children. D and Conata lived together in an extended family. D was an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church and that this arrangement arose out of religious convictions. The trial court held that the ordinance was unconstitutional. The government appealed.

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