The U.S. Justice Department is suing a suburban Philadelphia town, alleging its denial of a permit for a mosque in 2014 constituted religious discrimination.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the suit was filed Thursday and seeks to have Bensalem give the Bensalem Masjid approval to build the mosque, provide training for township employees on religious land-use laws and pay unspecified damages.
The Bensalem Masjid has been involved in litigation with the town since 2014. Roman Storzer, the Masjid’s lead attorney in a federal lawsuit filed against the town, says the Justice Department’s lawsuit demonstrates the seriousness of the problem in the town.
Bensalem solicitor Joseph Pizzo says the town is disappointed by the filing and has been working with the Justice Department since the Masjid’s lawsuit was filed.
(AP)
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3 Responses
This sounds like a land use case, even if the left-wingers running the Justice Department only got involved since Muslims were a party. It’s a good precedent for when we are the ones trying to get a zoning variance for a shul or yeshiva.
They do this for shuls all the time. They make up some excuse like that it will cause noise or traffic. I don’t expect the regime to care about that issue.
For all those crying foul, the justice department has just done the same to Tom’s River for not allowing a shul.