Jackson Township Predictably Tries Getting Lawsuit Dismissed | G. Sonnenfeld

In a shock to nobody, Jackson Township has moved to dismiss the lawsuit alleging discrimination against Orthodox Jews, originally brought by now-former New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal. 

The lawsuit accuses Jackson Township of spying on Orthodox Jewish worshippers, discriminating against the building of sukkahs, enacting ordinances specifically to ban religious schools and dormitories, and enacting an ordinance to ban eruvim.

While Mayor Mike Reina, one of the defendants in the lawsuit, claims that he wants to work out the issues brought forward by the suit, he and other officials are now dismissing the lawsuit as being meritless. Think about it for a moment: if the lawsuit brings up serious points that need to be addressed and worked out, why would the Township now say that the charges brought forward are completely meritless? And if the lawsuit does not, in fact, make good points, then why would Mike Reina acknowledge that there are issues that he wants to work out with Orthodox Jewish residents? The logic doesn’t add up.

Secondly, in requesting the dismissal, Jackson Township states that they have always had rules against putting up structures like sukkahs without prior permit approval. However, they left out one key part: the lawsuit notes that they changed the law and held discussions to make it more difficult to erect sukkahs. It’s very nice that they always had rules preventing residents from putting up structures without a permit, but why did they change the rules when it concerned Orthodox Jews?

Thirdly, it has been quite obvious to everyone living in Jackson that the surveillance of Jews going to pray was at the behest of known anti-Semites who badgered them into harassing Jews and making religious life difficult for them, rather than routine attempts at enforcing Jackson codes.

Fourth, Jackson Township left out the fact that a judge has already found them acting in a discriminatory fashion against Orthodox Jews with regard to schools. I wonder why they would leave that part out and still ask for the lawsuit to be dismissed…

The bottom line is that if Jackson Township and the officials in the upper echelons of its government wanted to work out the issues presented in the AG’s lawsuit they could have done so a long time ago. The fact that they didn’t only comes to show how beholden they are to the few rotten apples that call Jackson Township home.

 

This content, and any other content on TLS, may not be republished or reproduced without prior permission from TLS. Copying or reproducing our content is both against the law and against Halacha. To inquire about using our content, including videos or photos, email us at [email protected].

Stay up to date with our news alerts by following us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

**Click here to join over 20,000 receiving our Whatsapp Status updates!**

**Click here to join the official TLS WhatsApp Community!**

Got a news tip? Email us at [email protected], Text 415-857-2667, or WhatsApp 609-661-8668.

2 COMMENTS

  1. It’s commonplace for entities to deny wrongdoing yet agree to work out issues. Almost all settlements (not rulings) say that the defendant “does not admit to any wrongdoing”.

    I agree that Jackson is discriminating. I disagree with the point of this article which is questioning their defense. It’s standard and does not mitigate their ability to engage in side concerns or issues.

Comments are closed.