Constitutional Law

Judge refuses to stop Tenn. mosque construction

By By The Associated Press

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — A judge denied a request yesterday for a temporary restraining order to stop construction at the site of a proposed mosque in Murfreesboro.

Rutherford County Chancellor Robert Corlew said after closing arguments that he didn?t find that the ?county acted illegally, arbitrarily or capriciously? when county planners approved the site plan for an Islamic center.

The lawsuit claimed that the planners violated the Tennessee open-meetings law by failing to file adequate public notice of the meeting.

But much of the questioning from plaintiffs attorney Joe Brandon Jr. during seven days of testimony since late September focused on whether Islam qualified as a religion and his theory that American Muslims want to replace the Constitution with extremist Islamic law.

Corlew said the court did not find that members of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro adhered to extremist religious ideas.

Mosque leaders want to expand their facilities to accommodate a growing congregation and currently the proposed site is being prepared but no construction has started. Federal investigators are looking into arson at the construction site that burned a dump truck, and vandals have twice defaced a sign announcing the Islamic center is being built there.

Brandon had his hands on his face and at times was bent over the desk as the judge read his ruling. Afterward he briskly walked out of the courtroom without speaking to reporters.

Laurie Cardoza-Moore, who opposes the mosque but was not among the plaintiffs, said the plaintiffs are disappointed with the judge?s decision. She said the judge did recognize some of their concerns regarding public meeting notices.

Although Corlew found no violation of the Tennessee Sunshine Law, which specifies that government meetings are open to the public, he said the case raised questions about what amounted to the ?adequate public notice? the law requires. The meeting notice was published in the Murfreesboro Post, a free weekly newspaper that claims distribution to 45,000 homes in the county of more than 250,000 people.

?We felt like the judge did hear us on those issues,? Cardoza-Moore said.

During the testimony, witnesses pointed out that Islamic Center of Murfreesboro board member Mosaad Rowash previously had pro-Hamas postings on his MySpace page, something the mosque?s leaders have not denied. The U.S. government considers Hamas, a Palestinian Islamic political party with an armed wing that has attacked Israel, a terrorist organization.

Corlew said the actions of some individuals associated with the mosque amounted to poor judgment.

Brandon said before the ruling that the dispute would continue, however the judge rules. ?If the court rules against us, we?re not going to stop,? he said.

Cardoza-Moore said the legal team would meet with the plaintiffs to decide what to do next.

Jim Cope, the attorney for the county, said officials are prepared for any further challenges.

?We will continue to defend the county?s rights and interests in seeing the actions that we took were upheld appropriately,? he said.

Layla Hantouli, a 22-year-old Muslim woman who has been following the testimony, was glad the judge ruled against the mosque opponents.

?The Islamic Center of Murfreesboro is not promoting anything violent or anything unlawful,? she said.

Full post as published by First Amendment Center on November 17, 2010 (boomark / email).