Jackson Township in Ocean County, New Jersey will pay up to $575,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by the Division of Civil Rights (DCR) in the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, which alleged that town officials used zoning codes to drive Orthodox Jews from the area and deter others from moving in.
News that the two parties were nearing a settlement was reported by a local media outlet last week, but details of the agreement were not disclosed at the time. On Monday, however, the DCR and Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced the details of the arrangement.
“No one in New Jersey should face discrimination for their religious beliefs,” Platkin said in a statement. “We are firmly committed to eliminating discrimination and bias across our state, and we expect local leaders to comply with our robust anti-discrimination laws. The settlement announced today is a powerful testament to our commitment to protecting residents’ right to religious freedom.”
According to a consent order approved by a New Jersey court, Jackson Township must notify DCR of any changes to its ordinances or rules governing how land can be used for religious purposes. The town must also repeal previous policies that discriminated against Orthodox Jewish residents.
Jackson Township was accused in part of blocking the establishment of Orthodox schools as well as surveilling Jews, singling them out for enforcement of land use laws to prevent them from building sukkahs, temporary structures built for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, and eruvim, boundaries within which certain activities are permitted during Shabbat.
DCR will monitor the township’s compliance with the order for three years.
“Religious freedom is a bedrock principle of American democracy, and we are deeply committed to protecting it here in New Jersey,” DCR Director Sundeep Iyer said in a statement. “As hate and bias — including against the Jewish community — continue to rise, it is critical that we call out religious discrimination when we see it, and it is especially important that we hold public officials accountable when they treat people differently based on their faith.”
Iyer added, “Today’s consent order sends a strong message: We will not tolerate religious discrimination here in New Jersey.”
The settlement includes $275,000 in penalties and a $150,000 restitution fund for “individuals harmed by the Township’s actions,” according to a press release from the Attorney General’s Office. Jackson Township may also pay an additional $150,000 in “suspended penalties” that will be assessed if it violates the consent order.
As The Algemeiner previously reported, the Township Council in 2017 passed two zoning codes to restrict private schools to three specific areas and outlaw constructing new dormitories entirely, a measure “making it impossible for religious boarding schools to establish in the township” and ensuring that no new yeshivas could be established, the US Justice Department, which last year settled a similar suit with Jackson Township, said in 2020.
According to the Asbury Park Press, the town also allegedly surveilled Jewish homes on Shabbat to investigate claims that private homes were being used as synagogues.
Under the terms of its agreement with the Justice Department, Jackson Township paid a $45,000 penalty and agreed to having its land use policies monitored by the Justice Department for a three-year period during which it must report to government officials any “amendments or modifications to the township’s zoning code, rules, laws, or ordinances that affect land uses for schools, residential schools, houses of worship, or other religious uses.”
The town must also verify its compliance with the agreement and train all civil servants to apply the Fair Housing Act and Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act lawfully. In addition, Jackson was ordered to pay $150,000 “for the purpose of compensating aggrieved persons who have suffered as a result of alleged discriminatory actions by the township” and created a formal process for religious minorities to file complaints alleging religious discrimination.
