Boston Court Refuses To Dismiss Challenge To Sale of Land To Mosque

The Jewish Advocate reported Friday that in Boston, a Suffolk Superior Court judge denied defendants' motion to dismiss a lawsuit charging the city of Boston with violating the separation of church and state in selling land to the Islamic Society of Boston for a mosque in Roxbury. The suit claims that the Boston Redevelopment Authority sold a parcel of land adjacent to Roxbury Community College to the Islamic Society of Boston for less than a quarter of its assessed value. According to the sale agreement signed by the BRA and the ISB, in exchange for the reduced price, the ISB is to provide an Islamic speaker series and other services. The suit claims that this arrangement amounts to an unconstitutional subsidizing of religion. (See related prior posting.)