WASHINGTON, July 22 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against a Pennsylvania town for supposedly violating a federal law by rejecting plans for construction of an Islamic mosque.
Justice officials filed the suit Thursday against Bensalem Township, alleging the town's 2014 denial of a zoning variance for the mosque's construction imposed a burden on religious exercise -- which is specifically prohibited by the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000.