May 2022 Church & State Magazine

Mich. City Must Allow Mosque Construction, Court Says

  Mich. City Must Allow Mosque Construction, Court Says

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.

BREAKING NEWS

Americans United & the National Women’s Law Center file suit to challenge Missouri’s abortion bans.

Abortion bans violate the separation of church and state. Americans United and the National Women’s Law Center—the leading experts in religious freedom and gender justice—have joined forces with thirteen clergy from six faith traditions to challenge Missouri’s abortion bans as unconstitutionally imposing one narrow religious doctrine on everyone.


Join the Fight and Donate Today