Opponents of Tennessee mosque argue to intervene in federal religious discrimination case
By TRAVIS LOLLER ,Associated Press
Published August 25th, 2012 4:46 am
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal judge will rule next week on whether opponents of a Murfreesboro mosque can have a say in a religious discrimination case involving the building.
Attorney Joe Brandon Jr. represents the group of mosque neighbors and other Rutherford County residents asking the court to let them intervene. He argued at a Friday hearing in Nashville that his clients have an interest in the federal case because it overturned their state court victory.
In that ruling earlier this summer, Rutherford County Chancellor Robert Corlew said the May 2010 Planning Commission meeting where the mosque's construction was approved was void due to insufficient public notice. He ruled that the intense public interest in the mosque meant the meeting should have been advertised more broadly than county meetings normally are.
U.S. Attorney Jerry Martin, in asking a federal judge last month to overturn that ruling, said Corlew had illegally created a separate "mosque standard" that applied only to the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro.
http://www.timesnews.net/article/9050890/opponents-of-tennessee-mosque-argue-to-intervene-in-federal-religious-discrimination-case