A New Jersey town agreed to issue permits that will authorize a Muslim group to build a mosque there, settling religious discrimination lawsuits brought by the Justice Department and Muslim residents.
The Justice Department on Tuesday announced the terms of the settlement, through which officials from Bernards Township will issue the permits needed for the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge to build a mosque in the town.
Under the Obama administration, the Justice Department stepped up its enforcement of religion land-use discrimination cases — opening at least 50 land-use investigations and filing 10 lawsuits claiming violations of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act between 2010 and the end of 2016. Officials said cases involving mosques or Islamic schools dramatically increased over that time.
The Bernards Township case is at least the second case brought by under the Obama administration to be settled by Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ Justice Department.
The lawsuit stems from the town planning board’s 2015 denial of a zoning application for the mosque. The Islamic Society had previously rented space in a local community center to hold Friday prayers but in 2011 was able to purchase a property to construct a mosque.
But the society’s zoning application was met with strong public opposition, with individuals critical of Islam rather than zoning matters.
“Flyers, social media, and websites denounced the mosque and were filled with anti-Muslim bigotry and references to terrorism and the 9/11 attacks,” according to the original DOJ complaint filed in court.
The application process for the Islamic Society dragged on for more than three years, with the planning board holding 39 public meetings on the matter before eventually denying the permit.
Tuesday’s settlement will require that Bernards Township officials and employees get training on non-discrimination policies and the requirements of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The town is also required to amend its zoning ordinances to limit restrictions on houses of worship that were adopted while the Islamic Society application was pending.
“Federal law requires towns to treat religious land use applications like any other land use application,” said William E. Fitzpatrick, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey. “Bernards Township made decisions that treated the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge differently than other houses of worship. The settlement announced today corrects those decisions and ensures that members of this religious community have the same ability to practice their faith as all other religions.”
As part of a separate lawsuit brought by the Islamic Society against Bernards Township, the municipality agreed to pay the society $3.25 million in damages and attorneys’ fees.
The case follows a similar settlement the Justice Department announced in February with the city of Sterling Heights, Michigan, to resolve another religious land-use discrimination claim that arose when the city denied the American Islamic Community Center approval to build a mosque.
Last year the Justice Department also settled religious land use discrimination cases brought against the Pittsfield Charter Township, Michigan, which denied a construction permit for an Islamic school, and the city of Port Jervis in New York, which changed its zoning code to ban places of worship in a district that included a site the Goodwill Evangelical Presbyterian Church sought to open a church.
• Andrea Noble can be reached at anoble@washingtontimes.com.
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