Agudath Israel of America Supports Ateres Bais Yaakov's Legal Battle Against Clarkstown's Religious Discrimination

Rockland Daily Staff 

Agudath Israel of America recently filed an amicus brief ("friend of the court") in support of Ateres Bais Yaakov Academy of Rockland's lawsuit against the Town of Clarkstown and Citizens United to Protect Our Neighborhoods of Greater Nanuet (CUPON). 

The case involves Ateres Bais Yaakov, which contracted in 2018 to purchase facilities from a church for the school. However, the Town of Clarkstown obstructed the purchase to deny Ateres from being able to build an Orthodox school.  

The case was dismissed by the court because Ateres never received zoning approval before the deal was terminated. Ateres is now appealing that ruling to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that the actions of Hoehmann and the Town clearly caused the deal to be terminated.  

In its amicus brief, Agudath Israel of America argues that the Town of Clarkstown's actions against Ateres violates the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), a federal law that protects religious institutions from discriminatory land-use regulations. The brief states, "throughout the property purchase process, the officials of Clarkstown, in collaboration with local citizen activists, stoked hostility toward the school, describing their efforts to buy the building as a 'hostile invasion'. The defendants blocked Ateres from closing on the property and prevented it from entering their community by obstructing the zoning application process, withholding the necessary regulatory permissions; deterring investors from financing the purchase, purchasing the property for itself; and initiating the process to amend the zoning laws to make it impossible for Ateres and religious organizations like it to move in. Clarkstown officials trapped Ateres in administrative purgatory, exhausting the school's resolve and recourses until it was forced to abandon the agreement and sell the property to the Town itself."  

The brief also warns that "This precedent risks suggesting to other municipalities' officials that they can ultimately succeed in discriminating against Orthodox Jews if they impose excessive delays or unduly burdensome requirements that effectively bury the contract, property or opportunity that is rightfully theirs."  

"We needed to support the Ateres Bais Yaakov Academy in its fight against religious discrimination," said Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, Executive Vice President of Agudath Israel of America. "RLUIPA is a crucial law that protects the rights of religious institutions to use their property in accordance with their beliefs. We will continue to defend RLUIPA and the rights of religious institutions to operate freely and without discrimination."