NJ mosque wins $3.25 million settlement in discrimination case

A New Jersey mosque will receive $3.25 million in damages and attorneys fees from a township that repeatedly denied it the right to build a permanent house of worship.

The settlement, announced by the Justice Department on May 30, was reached after the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge sued Bernards Township, about an hour’s drive west of New York City. The township, which held 39 hearings on the planned mosque, refused to issue building permits.

“Our Constitution guarantees every religious congregation equal treatment under the law,” said Hannah Smith, senior counsel at Becket, a law firm that filed an amicus brief in support of the Islamic Society. “Every religion is a minority in some part of the country. If one religious group can be denied equal treatment because of hostility to their faith, then all religious groups are at risk.”