The Thomas More Law Center, a conservative advocacy group, is funding the legal challenge of a group of eight residents served with subpoenas after they objected to the construction of a mosque in Bernards Township.
BERNARDS - The Thomas More Law Center, a conservative advocacy group, is funding the legal challenge of a group of eight residents served with subpoenas after they objected to the construction of a mosque in the township.
This is the second time this year the Michigan-based organization has agreed to represent New Jersey residents. Recently, two Chatham women said they hired attorneys who work with the center after complaining about a middle school lesson plan that included instruction on the basic tenets of the Islamic faith.
Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, said neighbors of a mosque proposed by the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge reached out to him asking for assistance. The Center, in turn, is working with a New Jersey-based attorney.
Westfield-based attorney Michael Hrycak filed a letter on April 3 seeking to quash subpoenas issued by the society on the eight residents as part of a federal religious discrimination lawsuit filed in Trenton after the Planning Board denied the Islamic Society's application.
The subpoenas seek any communication the objectors - Lori Caratzola, Cody Smith, Kevin Tartaglione, Linda Arnold, Christopher Quick, Loretta Quick, Ashok Wahi and Parag Dhagat - had with township officials, documents that identify their online identities and any other documents related to the proposed mosque, according to court documents.
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"We think this is a very important constitutional issue as it relates to citizens who were issued subpoenas to bring in all kinds of records that have nothing to do with the lawsuit," Thompson said. "We believe the subpoenas are a total invasion of privacy and are unconstitutional. It chills citizens' rights to express themselves in a public hearing."
Adeel A. Mangi, attorney for the Islamic Society, said its disconcerting that those subpoenaed reached out to the Thomas More Law Center.
"The First Amendment protects free expression," said Mangi. "It doesn't mean you cannot be asked about what you say and why you said it. ISBR is entitled to fully explore the motivation of certain objectors to its mosque.
"This group has chosen to be represented by the TMLC, which has extreme views of Islam as set forth on its very website. It's a sad reflection on Bernards Township that some of its residents are now working with this kind of out-of-state group to block their Muslim neighbors' attempt to establish a place of worship."
Mangi, in a letter sent to the federal court on Friday, described the request to quash the subpoenas as "premature" because, once discovery is completed, his law firm can narrow the scope of information sought from the objectors. Mangi also characterized the center's involvement in the lawsuit as "part of a larger agenda."
Thompson said among the Center's goals are to protect what he called the United States' "Judeo-Christian heritage and moral values of our founding fathers. We know that in some circles patriotism is a bad word. But not in the circles in which I travel."
Caratzola was featured in an article posted on the Center's website announcing its legal assistance to the objectors.
"Being served with a Federal Court Subpoena to turn over all my personal communications including voicemails, social media, emails, notes wherein I make any mention of anything having to do with Islam is an absolute violation of my First Amendment rights," Caratzola is quoted as saying. "I was a citizen exercising my right to attend public planning board meetings about a land use application that affected my community."
The Islamic Society of Basking Ridge and the U.S. Department of Justice, both of which have filed lawsuits against the township, have proposed settlement terms to the township, it was previously reported.
Also, on New Year's Eve, a U.S. District Court Judge Michael Shipp ruled that an insistence that the proposed mosque have more parking spaces than churches or synagogues was unconstitutional.
Dave Hutchinson may be reached at dhutchinson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DHutch_SL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.