ILLINOIS
Federal prosecutors announced today that they have filed a lawsuit against the city of Des Plaines, Illinois for allegedly refusing to allow the American Islamic Center to operate a place of worship in a vacant office building it had contracted to purchase.
The U.S. Department of Justice alleges in the lawsuit that the city violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 when it refused to allow the American Islamic Center to operate a place of worship.
The complaint alleges that the city of Des Plaines imposed a substantial burden on the Islamic Center’s exercise of religion and otherwise discriminated against the center based on religion when it refused to grant its request for rezoning that would allow it to operate an Islamic place of worship in a vacant office building it had contracted to purchase.
The complaint alleges that the city imposed parking standards and other zoning criteria that were not supported under its zoning ordinance and that it had never imposed on non-Muslim places of worship.
“The ability to establish a place for collective worship is a fundamental protection of the First Amendment and our civil rights laws,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will remain vigilant in its mission to ensure that all religious groups enjoy the right to practice their faiths freely.”
“The freedom to practice the religion of one’s choosing is a precious right in our country,” said U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Fardon of Illinois. “We will continue to enforce the laws that protect this important right.”