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Article: Faith and the Justice Department; Civil Rights Division Now a More Active Ally of Churches
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- October 15, 2005
- Author:
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In a nationally watched case about a church's freedom to build
where it pleases, the U.S. Justice Department has invoked a five-
year-old federal law to investigate the way a New Jersey township has
treated a 5,000-member church.
The probe of Rockaway Township's treatment of Christ Church is one
of 25 such investigations the Justice Department has mounted in the
last four years as religious organizations clash with local
governments over zoning.
Of those, according to Justice Department spokesman Eric Holland,
there have been five instances when the Civil Rights Division decided
there was no basis for taking things further. Twelve investigations,
Holland said, have resulted in "favorable ...