Department of Justice Announces Lawsuit Against Airmont, NY’s Religious Discrimination

First Liberty Institute filed similar suit in 2018 alleging systematic discrimination by Village forcing Orthodox Jewish community underground

The United States Department of Justice has filed a federal lawsuit against the Village of Airmont, NY, alleging religious discrimination against the Orthodox Jewish community.

“It’s time for Village of Airmont officials to reverse their unlawful decisions that keep our clients from peacefully practicing their faith in their homes,” said Keisha Russell, Counsel to First Liberty Institute. “With the assistance of the Department of Justice, we hope to put an end to Airmont’s practice of religious discrimination once and for all.”

In December of 2018, First Liberty and the international law firm Norton Rose Fulbright filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of several residents, including three Orthodox Jewish rabbis, alleging that the Village has engaged in systematic discrimination forcing Orthodox Jewish residents to practice their faith in hiding in a deliberate effort to dissuade them from staying in or moving to Airmont.

The Village of Airmont incorporated in 1991, and its discriminatory zoning policies have been the subject of civil rights lawsuits spanning five different presidential administrations.  The same year of its inception, then U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr filed suit against Airmont for religious discrimination against the Orthodox community.

To read a statement from the Department of Justice, click here.

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