A federal judge ruled that churches in New Jersey cannot be barred from receiving historic grants solely because of their religious nature.
United States District Judge Evelyn Padin, appointed by President Joe Biden, issued an opinion last week favoring two churches that sued Morris County officials for denying them historical grants.
Judge Padin granted a preliminary injunction on behalf of The Mendham Methodist Church and The Zion Lutheran Church Long Valley, stating that public aid cannot be denied to a party because they are religious. She criticized Rule 5.6.4 of New Jersey's Historic Preservation Grant, which prohibits funds from being allocated to "property currently used for religious purposes or functions."
“Rule 5.6.4 does not limit funding to religious institutions to secular aspects of repair. Instead, it excludes the institutions from eligibility wholesale because they are religious institutions,” wrote Padin. “Rule 5.6.4, as currently written and construed, therefore, likely violates the Free Exercise Clause.”
Jeremy Dys, senior counsel with First Liberty Institute, a conservative law firm assisting in representing the churches, praised the ruling, stating, “Time and again, the U.S. Supreme Court has declared that all forms of religious discrimination by the government are unconstitutional, including the denial of historic preservation grants to historic churches.” He added, “We are thrilled that the court recognized that religious institutions cannot be excluded from public funding programs like preservation grants simply because of their religious character or religious activities.”
The issue dates back to 2015 when the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) filed a lawsuit against Morris County for allocating $4.6 million in historic preservation grants to 12 county houses of worship from 2012 to 2015. In 2018, the New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of the FFRF, concluding that Morris County's practice of providing historic preservation grants to churches violated the New Jersey Constitution.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner wrote, “The plain language of the Religious Aid Clause bars the use of taxpayer funds to repair and restore churches, and Morris County's program ran afoul of that long-standing provision.”
Following the state supreme court decision, county officials implemented a policy that excluded houses of worship from the grant program. The churches filed their complaint in April 2023, accusing local officials of unconstitutional discrimination on the basis of religion by denying their grant applications solely because they were religious.
