“The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has taken an unexpected turn down a dangerous path,�? said Kevin “Seamus�? Hasson, founder and president of The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty as his firm signed on to help represent a Jewish clinic being challenged by the NAACP for closing on Saturdays.

The president of the local chapter of the NAACP last month filed a complaint and request for investigation by the Rockland County Commission on Human Rights against the Ben Gilman Medical and Dental Clinic here for closing on Saturdays to observe the Jewish Sabbath. The Becket Fund, a Washington D.C.-based non-profit, interfaith public service law firm dedicated to protecting the free expression of all religions, has joined with the clinic’s law firm, Storzer & Greene. Today they filed a response asserting that the First Amendment allows the clinic to operate in accordance with the owner’s religious beliefs concerning work restrictions on the Jewish Sabbath.

“In their very own charter, the NAACP claims that their mission is to ‘promote equality of rights and to eradicate caste or race prejudice among the citizens of the United States.’ In this instance, they are doing the opposite,�? said Hasson. “The clinic has a constitutionally protected right to close for religious observances. The NAACP’s proposed action violates that right and, in effect, they are working contrary to everything that organization has stood for over its long and admirable history.�?

The complaint claims that by closing on Saturdays, the clinic is violating patients’ civil rights, especially since it accepts government Medicaid and Medicare payments. The complaint also calls on the privately-owned facility to provide diversity training to its employees and hire more minority staffers.

The clinic has been closed on Saturdays since it opened almost two years ago. The clinic provides 24-hour on-call coverage for its primary care services including on the Jewish Sabbath and emergency rooms of nearby hospitals remain open on weekends to ensure that local residents do not go without necessary healthcare services, Hasson pointed out.

“If the clinic were forced to take the action the NAACP demands, it would be oppression in the worst sense of the word. It may seem like an easy solution, but it is not a fair one. Religious liberty is a civil right, too,�? said Hasson.

The issue may take up to six months to resolve, if all avenues are pursued by both parties which Hasson says his firm is prepared to do.

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