In Chabad Lubavitch of the Beaches, Inc. v. Incorporated Village of Atlantic Beach, (ED NY, Sept. 6, 2022), a New York federal district court granted a preliminary injunction, concluding that an attempt to acquire the property of a Jewish religious group by eminent domain likely violated the group's 1st Amendment free exercise rights. Chabad acquired the property in order to build a center on it. Eminent domain proceedings were initiated shortly after Chabad held a Menorah lighting ceremony on the property. The court explained:
[T]he Village’s acquisition decision was made in a manner intolerant of Chabad’s members’ religious beliefs and which would restrict Chabad’s practices because of its religious nature. Thus, the Village’s acquisition decision was targeted and not done neutrally, thereby requiring the Court to apply strict scrutiny in deciding whether that decision is constitutionally permissible.
... The Village never inquired from the Property’s prior owner whether he was interested in selling the Property ... notwithstanding it being adjacent to and/or in very close proximity to Village-owned and controlled properties and it having sat vacant for three years, with a prominent “For Sale” sign having been erected in front of the Property for the last two of those three years.... Instead, for vague reasons, not strongly supported by direct evidence ... the Village’s apparent urgency to acquire the Properties intensified during the same time when Chabad purchased the Property....
Further, the several anti-Semitic comments posted to the FB Group page after the January 10 open meeting, i.e., community member comments, add to the suspicion caused by the timing of events and call into question the Village’s stated motivation for acquiring the Property by eminent domain.... [O]ne of the Village Trustees, was an administrator/monitor of the FB Group; thus, it is difficult not to conclude that at least one member of the Village Board was aware of several strong opponents to Chabad’s presence in the Village, based upon impermissible religious animus.
