The US Justice Department is investigating whether a city in New Jersey violated religious freedom laws when it denied a plan by a group of Muslims to build a mosque.
The Justice Department’s probe comes a week after the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge sued the town of Bernards Township in federal court, alleging religious infringement.
The lawsuit alleges a very lengthy process during which the town’s planning board made references to terrorism and questioned what children would learn in the mosque.
The planning board also expressed concerns about storm water drainage and a buffer zone between the proposed mosque and a neighboring property.
“What should have been a simple board approval for a permitted use devolved into a Kafkaesque process that spanned an unprecedented four years and included 39 public hearings,” the suit said.
The attorney representing the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge, Adeel Mangi, declined comment on the federal…