Islamic Society Can Build Mosque After N.J. Township Settles Lawsuit

The Islamic Society of Basking Ridge (ISBR) and the U.S. Justice Department both filed discrimination lawsuits in 2016 after the ISBR was denied its plan to build a mosque in the area. Nearly half a year after the Justice Department's lawsuit was filed in 2016, the Bernards Township Committee voted to accept proposed settlements in both the Justice Department lawsuit and the lawsuit filed by the ISBR.

These lawsuits and their settlements, however, were really the culmination of a dispute more than five years in the making, when the ISBR announced a proposal for a new mosque in 2012.

Origin of the Bernards Township Mosque Dispute

In 2012, the ISBR announced they would propose the construction of a new mosque to the local planning board. After making the announcement and before the ISBR filed their formal application, disturbing trends of anti-Muslim sentiment began to emerge. The ISBR mailbox was smashed and the ISBR president was accosted in a parking lot after a township meeting, to name two of the more prominent incidents.

Three years of anti-Muslim behavior from portions of the local community continued before the mosque's proposal was rejected in December of 2015. According to the township, the rejection was not based on religion. Rather, it was merely based on the fact that local ordinances required the mosque to provide more off-street parking based on its unique worship times and traditions. In effect, the parking needs of the mosque itself was the reason the ISBR proposal was rejected.

For the ISBR, this rejection was based on "religious and cultural animus against Muslims", which had been on display in Basking Ridge. A broad swath of groups across the religious and political spectrum supported the ISBR's lawsuit filed in March of 2016, including the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, the Sikh Coalition, and the conservative Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.

In November of 2016, the Justice Department also filed a lawsuit against Bernards Township, alleging the New Jersey township violated federal law when it denied the ISBR's plan to build a mosque. The federal government sued the township based on a perceived violation of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which prevents local communities from using bureaucracy and vague ordinances to engage in religious discrimination.

The Influential U.S. District Court Case That Expedited a Resolution to This Dispute

The first major development that pushed the township toward settling was a New Year's Eve decision from a federal judge in New Jersey, who ruled that the township's insistence that the mosque have more parking spaces than churches or synagogues is unconstitutional. U.S. District Court Michael Shipp noted that the township had not individually assessed the worship habits of other churches and synagogues came before the board for approval. This parking lot assessment, federal lawyers argued, was a different standard being applied to Muslims.

Realistically, this weighty decision was the major catalyst that spurred the township to settle for $3.25 million, agreeing to pay $1.5 million in damages and $1.75 million in attorneys' fees. As part of the settlement agreement, the township planning board will hear ISBR's revised plan for the mosque, which will reduce the number of parking places from 107 to 50 per Judge Shipp's ruling.

Was the Dispute Really About Religion? 

So, was the court right in its decision? That depends on who you ask. The ISBR hailed the decision as a landmark ruling with national impact, whereas the township clearly disagreed that the decision was made based on religious discrimination. Instead, they continue to maintain even after settlement that the proposal rejection was based on the particular parking needs of the mosque.

Board members say they bent over backwards to get the mosque approved, but at least one township board member believes ISBR president Mohammad Ali Chaudry came to want a lawsuit of national significance more than the building of the mosque itself.

While such strong differences of opinion are perhaps inevitable after a hotly contested legal issue that had its time in the national spotlight, the fact remains the federal government and the federal court involved found the township's rejection of the ISBR's permit proposal to be religious discrimination.

The attorneys at the Mark Law Firm can help you understand and enforce your rights if you've been discriminated against at work or at school based on your religion or other legally protected characteristic. Contact us for a consultation to discuss the facts of your discrimination case.

Di Onno, Mark. The Untold Side of the Bernards' Mosque Story. NJ.com, 18 December 2016. Web. 20 June 2017.

Green, Emma. "A New Jersey Mosque Wins in a Religious-Discrimination Lawsuit- Over Parking Lots." The Atlantic, 30 May 2017. Web. 20 June 2017.

Hutchinson, Dave. "Town That Denied Mosque Sued by Federal Government." NJ.Com, 22 November 2016. Web. 20 June 2017. 

O'Brien, Kathleen. "Islamic Society Wins 'Landmark Ruling' in Long Battle for New Mosque." NJ.com, 2 January 2017. Web. 20 June 2017.

Image source Rudy Herman via Flickr, Crescent and star on mosque minaret https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/