Yesterday, Notre Dame Law School’s Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic filed an amicus brief on behalf of several Jewish organizations in Lost Lake Holdings LLC v. Town of Forestburgh, a case which challenges one town’s concerted efforts to prevent the construction of a residential community for Hasidic Jews. The Clinic’s brief urges the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to correct a lower court decision that, in the Clinic’s view, shields the Town’s blatant religious discrimination from timely federal review.
The case arises from efforts to build a residential community for Hasidic Jewish families in the Town of Forestburgh, New York. According to the allegations, once developers purchased a shovel-ready property for that purpose, town officials and residents reacted with open hostility toward the prospect of a Hasidic community, and reassured one another that the town would take steps to stop the project. Thus far, the developers have not been allowed to begin construction as administrative demands have allegedly increased project costs by millions of dollars.
Faced with what they describe as entrenched discrimination, the developers sued under federal civil rights laws, including the Fair Housing Act. The district court dismissed the case, however, finding that the developers must continue to pursue local administrative processes before asserting their claims in court. The Clinic’s brief argues that any such efforts would be futile given the Town’s open animosity toward the Hasidic developers. It urges the Second Circuit to “take meaningful account of the Town’s blatant anti-Semitism when assessing whether it has dug in its heels” against them.
“The writing is on the wall here,” said Professor John Meiser, faculty director of the Religious Liberty Clinic. “The record is filled with evidence of anti-Semitic vitriol by residents who have banded together to stop what they describe as a Jewish ‘threat’ to their town. Courts cannot simply brush that aside and tell the developers to just try to work things out one more time. It is pointless, and it prevents courts from fulfilling their role of protecting people’s rights.”
The brief also draws attention to the wider problem of "institutionalized anti-Semitism” in hostile zoning actions around the country. As the brief explains, experiences like these are not unusual, particularly in New York, where many Orthodox communities have faced coordinated efforts to keep them from moving into certain towns.
The Clinic filed the brief on behalf of four organizations devoted to protecting the rights of Jewish Communities: Agudath Israel of America, the Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty, the National Council of Young Israel, and the Jewish Community Council of Sullivan County. These groups urged the court to correct the decision below both to uphold the law and to protect vulnerable Jewish communities.
“This is a case we have been following closely,” stated Daniel Kaminetsky, general counsel at Agudath Israel. “It is critical that the Court system protects against this type of blatant discrimination, especially given the explosion of anti-Semitism we have seen over the last several years.”
“We are proud to work alongside these groups to draw attention to a growing problem within the Second Circuit,” said Meredith Kessler, managing attorney for the Clinic. “It gives our students an opportunity to help correct an error in the law and, more importantly, to stand up for the rights of communities in need.”
About the Notre Dame Law School Religious Liberty Clinic
The Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic is a teaching law practice that educates, forms, and prepares Notre Dame law students to become the rising generation of religious liberty leaders by training students in the practice of the law as they defend religious freedom for all people.
Under the guidance of Law School faculty and staff, students work on a broad variety of legal matters to promote religious freedom on behalf of individuals and organizations of all beliefs—both domestically and abroad. The Clinic represents clients from all faith traditions to promote not only the freedom for people to hold religious beliefs but also their fundamental right to express those beliefs and to live according to them. Learn more about the work of the Clinic here.