Officials in Troy, Mich., violated the religious freedom rights of a group of Muslims when they denied them zoning approval to build a mosque, a federal court has ruled.
In 2019, the U.S. Justice Department sued the city after the Adam Community Center, an Islamic group, was denied a zoning variance to build on a commercial site that currently contains a restaurant and warehouse, reported the Detroit Free Press.
U.S. District Judge Nancy G. Edmunds found that zoning variances were routinely granted to other religious groups.
“Troy had granted variance requests for places of worship in the past and at least 35 places of worship in the City do not adhere to the current place of worship standards,” Edmunds wrote.
