The following was reported in the May 2011 “Religious Freedom in Focus” Newsletter from the US DOJ.
On May 6, a federal judge in New York entered a consent decree resolving a suit filed by the United States alleging that the Village of Airmont violated RLUIPA and the Fair Housing Act (FHA) by blocking construction of a Jewish boarding school. In the consent decree, which is a settlement approved and enforced by a court, the village agreed to alter its zoning code, allow the school to be built, and take other remedial measures.
The United States filed suit in June 2005, alleging that the village enacted a ban on boarding schools in 1993 specifically to keep Hassidic Jews from settling in the village. At the time the ban was enacted, the Hassidic Jewish community operated boarding schools, called yeshivas, in nearby areas. The village’s zoning code permits group care facilities, nursing homes, sleep-away camps, and hotels. The suit alleges that the village enacted the boarding school ban to keep Hasidic yeshivas out of the village in violation of RLUIPA and the FHA. The suit also contends that the village violated the RLUIPA rights of Congregation Mischknois Lavier Yakov, which was denied a permit to build a yeshiva in 2002.
Under the consent decree, the village has until October 15, 2011 to amend its zoning code to permit boarding schools, grandfather the yeshiva, and comply with RLUIPA and the FHA. The consent decree also imposes notice and record keeping requirements on the city and requires the village to refrain from discrimination in the future. The village also agreed to pay the United States a $10,000 civil penalty.
More information about the Department of Justice’s enforcement of RLUIPA and the Fair Housing Act may be found on the Civil Rights Division’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section’s homepage.
