Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that a consent decree has been agreed upon with the Village of Airmont, New York, thereby ending a lawsuit filed by Orthodox Jewish residents and synagogues alleging religious discrimination against the village. Agudath Israel of America is hailing the agreement.

The 2020 lawsuit called out the Airmont Board of Trustees for creating various zoning ordinances that deliberately and unlawfully placed restraints undermining freedom of worship in the village. The lawsuit alleged that the zoning code violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA).

Reversing the discriminatory provisions, the consent decree abolishes restrictions on the amount of space a private home can allot for worship, whom homeowners can invite into their homes to pray, and an application process designed to deny Orthodox Jews the right to build houses of worship.

Agudath Israel has long fought the religious intolerance and the denial of freedom of worship in Airmont. Thirty years ago, Agudath Israel filed an amicus curiae brief in a lawsuit filed by Jewish residents of the village. More recently, the organization advocated on behalf of the residents’ religious rights in meetings at the Justice Department — first, to former Attorney General William Barr in 2019, and, more recently, to Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Kristen Clarke during Agudath Israel’s National Leadership Mission in March 2023.

Agudath Israel’s Washington Office played a leading role in the crafting and passage of RLUIPA, the basis upon which the ordinances were found unlawful.

“This is the end of many years of discrimination by the ‘Preserve Airmont’ administration and CUPON against Orthodox Jewish institutions and residents in the Village of Airmont,” said Mr. Yehuda Zorger, Airmont resident and community activist.

“We applaud and thank the Justice Department for its determination to combat the ongoing religious intolerance against our community,” said Rabbi Shragi Greenbaum, director of Agudath Israel’s Rockland County, New York Office. “The effect of the Department action here will reverberate to other jurisdictions and faith communities around the country.”