“The Justice Department filed a lawsuit today against Sterling Heights, Michigan, alleging that the city violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA) when it denied special land use approval to allow the American Islamic Community Center Inc. (AICC) to build a mosque on five adjoining parcels of land located in the city,” Thursday’s release said.
The federal civil complaint, filed in US District Court in nearby Detroit, Michigan, alleges that the city discriminated against the group based on its religious affiliation by refusing to approve a land-use request in 2015 that would have let the American Islamic Community Center construct a mosque.
The decision imposed a “substantial burden” on the group’s religious-freedom rights, in violation of the US Constitution, the release stated.
“The Constitution protects the rights of religious communities to create the institutions and physical spaces they need to observe and practice their faith free from discriminatory barriers,” the release quoted Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta as saying. “The Justice Department will continue to aggressively protect the rights of all communities to live, pray and worship free from religious discrimination and substantial burdens in local land use decisions.”
The release added that the American Islamic Community Center had sought to build the Sterling Heights mosque to replace one that is no longer adequate for the needs of the group and its members.
City officials have said the local planning commission denied the permit based solely on land-use considerations such as parking and the proposed mosque’s size, not for religious reasons, according to media reports.
