The Department of Justice has filed nine lawsuits involving a Muslim mosque or school since 2010 and has prevailed in six of those cases. Three are pending..
BERNARDS -- The lawsuit filed last week alleging that Bernards Township violated federal law by rejecting plans for a mosque marked the ninth time since 2010 the Department of Justice has sued based on federal religious land use law.
All nine lawsuits involve a Muslim mosque or school. The Justice Department has prevailed in six of those cases and three are pending.
"What we've seen in the past several years is a disturbing increase in anti-Muslim rhetoric in terms of communities coming to town planning board hearings and voicing their opposition to a mosque or Islamic school under the pretext of routine zoning board issues," said Brenda Abdelall, director, Program to Strengthen Charities at Washington, D.C.-based Muslim Advocates.
Congress passed the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act in 2000 in response to an increasing number of towns across the country using local zoning codes to prevent religious communities from building places of worship.
Bernards Township is the latest to face a lawsuit under the rule. The Islamic Society filed its application for a 4,252-square-foot mosque to be built on a 4.3-acre site on Church Street in April 2012.
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The Department of Justice provided an update in July on its 17 investigations since 2010 involving the Religious Land Use law.
"Another troubling statistic that emerges from the last five-and-a-half years reinforces the conclusion that there is particularly severe discrimination faced by Muslims in land use," according to the report.
"While 84 percent of non-Muslim investigations opened by the Department resulted in a positive resolution without the United States or private parties filing suit, in mosque and Islamic school cases, only 20 percent have resulted in a positive resolution without the filing of a RLUIPA suit," the report states.
Here's a look at the nine Justice Department lawsuits filed against towns since 2010:
UNITED STATES VS. BERNARDS TOWNSHIP - On Nov. 22, 2016, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the township alleging it violated federal law in its denial of the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge's plan to build a mosque. The proposed site is located in a part of the township that, at the time of the society's zoning request, permitted the construction of places of worship.
UNITED STATES VS. BENSALEM TOWNSHIP, Pa. - On July 21, 2016, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Bensalem Township, Pennsylvania, alleging that the township violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 when it denied zoning approval to allow the Bensalem Masjid to build a mosque on three adjoining parcels of land in the township.
UNITED STATES VS. PITTSFIELD, Mich. - In October 2015, the Justice Department filed suit against the township alleging that it improperly denied rezoning of a parcel on which the Michigan Islamic Academy, currently located on a small lot in Ann Arbor, wished to build a new school. A settlement was reached on Sept. 29, 2016 in which the township has agreed to permit the academy to construct a school on the vacant parcel of land, to treat the school and all other religious groups equally and to publicize its non-discrimination policies and practices. The township agreed to pay $1.7 million for damages and attorney fees.
UNITED STATES VS. DES PLAINES, Ill. - In September 2015, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the city over its denial of rezoning to allow a Bosnian Muslim congregation to use a vacant office building as a mosque. The suit, filed in federal court in Chicago and currently pending, alleges that the city treated the mosque less favorably than it treated nonreligious assemblies and other religious assemblies.
UNITED STATES VS. CITY OF ANTHONY VILLAGE, Minn. - In August 2014, the Justice Department sued the city alleging that denial of approval for the Abu-Huraira Islamic Center to open a prayer center in the basement of an office building in a light industrial zone violated federal law. A federal court in Minneapolis entered a consent order that permitted the center to use the building as a place of worship on Jan. 5, 2015.
UNITED STATES VS. CITY OF LOMITA, Calif. - In February 2013, the Justice Department filed suit against the city, alleging it imposed a substantial burden when it denied a request by the Islamic Center of the South Bay to tear down the aging buildings in which they worshiped and build a new mosque. An agreed settlement order was reached and a new mosque was eventually built.
UNITED STATES VS. RUTHERFORD COUNTY, Tenn. - In July 2012, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit and won a temporary restraining order allowing the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro to move into a mosque it built on land that allows places of worship as of right. The United States filed the suit in response to a state Chancery Court order blocking the county from issuing a certificate of occupancy. A U.S. federal court lifted the state order and the mosque opened in August 2012.
UNITED STATES VS. COUNTY OF HENRICO, Virg. - In September 2011, the Justice Department filed suit and obtained a consent decree allowing a local Muslim community to construct a mosque. The suit alleged that the county's denial of the rezoning application was based on the religious bias of county officials and members of the public whom the officials sought to appease.
UNITED STATES VS. CITY OF LILBURN, Ga. - In August 2011, the Justice Department filed suit and reached a consent decree winning the right of a Shia Muslim community to build a new mosque at its current location. The suit included allegations that the city's denial of approval was the result of bias against Muslims and that other similarly sized and situated places of worship had been permitted.
Dave Hutchinson may be reached at dhutchinson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DHutch_SL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.