The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee (ACLU-TN) sued the city of Bartlett Friday after elected officials there denied a permit to build a mosque.
The Bartlett Muslim Society (BMS) sought to build a new mosque on property it owns inside the Bartlett city limits. The Bartlett Board of Mayor and Aldermen denied the permit in February. BMS claims the denial came after months of “extensive, expensive, and purposeless delay as part of a sham permitting process.”
The city’s planning commission recommended the denial, even though the group had previously supported Christian churches also seeking a special use permit as the BMS did, the ACLU-TN said.
“This is a clear case of interference with religious freedoms cloaked in bureaucratic language,” said Stella Yarbrough, ACLU-TN legal director. “The facts don’t support the permit denial, but they do reveal something deeper — an attempt to restrict a community’s religious practices based on who they are.”
The lawsuit challenging the decision — Bartlett Muslim Society v. City of Bartlett — was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee on Friday. The BMS is asking the court to declare that the city’s actions violate the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act and to direct the city to approve their application for a special use permit.
“Our congregation needs more space to worship, teach our children, and host community meals and gatherings,” said Badrul Hossain, board president of the BMS. “We have tried very hard to work with the city and have responded to any and all concerns raised, yet we were still denied a permit. Sadly, we had no choice but to file this lawsuit in order to continue practicing our faith.”