Religious Freedom Group Adds Voice To Legal Battle In Long Valley

LONG VALLEY, NJ — In Morris County, a legal dispute is brewing over the use of taxpayer funds to renovate church buildings and other places of worship.

Two Morris County churches, including Long Valley's Zion Lutheran Church, filed a revised version of a lawsuit against the county, alleging discrimination after being denied participation in a grant program.

The First Amended Complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in New Jersey on July 14, three months after the original lawsuit was filed by the same parties.

The lawsuit, which was assisted by the Texas-based conservative Christian nonprofit that provides legal services, seeks to overturn a section of New Jersey's constitution that prohibits using tax dollars to fund house of worship maintenance and repairs, claiming it violates the First and 14th Amendments.

And, as of last month, another party is looking to join the conversation.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), which previously sued Morris County in 2015 over the release of $4.6 million in public funding to renovate more than a dozen churches, has filed a motion to intervene, according to court filings.

“The legal claims being advanced by these churches are identical to arguments already heard and rejected by the New Jersey Supreme Court,” FFRF Associate Counsel Sam Grover said. “These plaintiffs are attempting to relitigate the case that FFRF won five years ago, and they’re attempting to do it without FFRF’s involvement.”

According to the amended lawsuit, the Long Valley church is arguing that the county's exclusion discriminates against religion and penalizes congregations' free exercise of religion, which is illegal and violates the text and spirit of the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

The lawsuit specifically mentions the county's historic preservation trust fund, which was established in 2003 and previously allowed historically significant churches and religious organizations to apply for and receive grants.

However, the state Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that the county's practice of awarding millions of dollars in grants to local churches for historic preservation violated the state constitution's Religious Aid Clause.

In the court's 2018 opinion, State Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner wrote that "the plain language of the Religious Aid Clause bars the use of taxpayer funds to repair and restore churches, and that Morris County's program ran afoul of that longstanding provision."

With this lawsuit, the churches have chosen to challenge the unanimous 2018 decision.

"FFRF’s win potentially saved New Jersey taxpayers many millions of dollars, since the grants to churches may have proceeded in a similar vein in all 21 counties. Now, two New Jersey churches are seeking to undo this public benefit — and FFRF is determined to stymie their machinations," FFRF said in a statement.

The plaintiffs contend that, since the ruling of the New Jersey Supreme Court, historic New Jersey churches have suffered as church buildings deteriorate and congregations lack the finances to perform required repairs.

Prior to the state Supreme Court's verdict, Zion Lutheran received $27,760 from the county's historic preservation fund in 2017. That money was utilized to carry out a historic preservation plan, which included a full study of the church's construction to decide which aspects of the structure needed to be handled first with the restricted budget.

"Notwithstanding that funding, Zion Lutheran currently needs assistance to maintain the structural and historical integrity of its church building," the complaint says.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, on the other hand, has contended that asking residents to finance religious institutions with whom they disagree through taxes violates their rights.

“We will act to preserve the rights and interests of New Jersey taxpayers,” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said. “We won’t merely sit by and watch while religious entities maneuver to get the official funding spigot opened again.”