Mahwah Settles Lawsuit Charging Town With Anti-Semitism

MAHWAH, NJ — The township has settled a lawsuit filed by the state Attorney General's office for an alleged attempt to restrict Orthodox Jews from the township, including its parks.

Attorney General Grewal announced the settlement and its terms Monday afternoon. It is still subject to final review and approval by the court.

The town will have to pay $350,000 if the township does not engage in unlawful conduct and it fully complies with the agreement, Grewal said. The payment will be vacated in 2022 payment if it abides by the terms of the agreement.

The town must provide the state Attorney General's Office Division of Civil Rights at least 30 days advanced notice of any vote on a proposed ordinance affecting public access to its parks and recreational facilities.

The same 30-day notice also applies to any ordinance affecting the placement of signs, devices, or any material whatsoever, on utility poles in town.

The town must also keep better records over the next four years, including a compilation of all complaints and reports it receives about use of the town's parks and recreational facilities.

The town must report every quarter the number of complaints and reports it has received, and a list of actions taken in response to them.

Officials also agreed to investigate all incidents of damage to eruv markers on utility poles as "potential criminal acts of vandalism," unless there is good cause to blame the damage on the weather or that is was accidental.

The nine-count complaint stemmed from an ordinance the Town Council approved last year that prohibited non-New Jersey residents from using Mahwah public parks, the State alleges. The ordinance was later rescinded.

There was also an ordinance amendment, which the council did not approve, the Attorney General's office said was discriminatory. It was discriminatory because it banned posting on utility poles of boundaries of an eruv used by Orthodox Jews, including those from neighboring Rockland County, New York, according to the suit. The complaint also challenged actions that town took to have an existing eruv removed. (See related: Mahwah Township Excluded Orthodox Jews, State Claims In Lawsuit)

"To be clear, the Council has never intended to impede the religious freedom or civil rights of any individual, whether a Mahwah resident or a non-Mahwah resident. Now that the Attorney General's Office has agreed to give us written notice of any concerns before restoring to legal action, we are hopeful that we can work collaboratively to protect our parks and public facilities while ensuring that we protect the civil rights of all citizens in a manner that satisfies the top law enforcement office in the state," he Town Council said in a joint statement issued by Council President Robert Hermansen released. "As to why the settlement agreement was even necessary after the ordinance was repealed, you would have to ask the Attorney General's Office." One possible answer, which one may infer from the agreement itself, is that the Attorney General's Office doesn't trust the Mahwah Council to respect the religious rights of visitors to our Township. That is a shame, because from day one we have attempted to collaborate with state officials to create protections for our public facilities that also respect the civil rights of all."

Eruvs symbolically extend the private domain of Jewish households into public areas. Jewish households within an eruv are allowed to participate in activities that are normally banned on the Sabbath.

Then-Attorney General Christopher Porrino likened the township's conduct to "1950s-era 'white flight' suburbanites who sought to keep African-Americans from moving into their neighborhoods."

The nine-count complaint was filed in Bergen County Superior Court on behalf of Porrino, the state Division on Civil Rights, Department of Environmental (DEP) Protection Commissioner Bob Martin and the DEP. It charges that the Township Council was largely influenced by "vocal anti-Orthodox-Jewish sentiment" expressed by people at public meetings and on social media.

The state also wanted the return of more than $3.4 million in DEP Green Acres grants the township used to purchase and maintain parks. The ordinance banning non-New Jersey residents from using those parks breaches those funding contracts, Porrino said when the lawsuit was filed.

The Green Acres Act provides that the use of any lands acquired under the program cannot be restricted on the basis of religion or residency.

Enforcing the ordinance would require "Constitutional overreach" by Mahwah Police officers seeking to determine if someone using a park lived in town. The complaint contends that aside from any evidence of suspicious or unlawful conduct by someone, a police officer would require someone to provide "appropriate documentation" in order to use the park — an unreasonable search.

It is the second lawsuit the town has settled regarding the eruv. The Township Council agreed in January to settle a lawsuit filed by a local Orthodox Jewish group regarding the town removing an eruv.

The Bergen Rockland Eruv Association sued the town to keep the eruv in tact by keeping white PVC pipes on utility poles.

In 2015, the association sought to extend an existing eruv in Rockland County, New York to cover the full southern part of Rockland County. The proposed path of the extension included areas in Mahwah Township near the New York border.

The South Monsey Eruv Fund of Spring Valley, New York installed the eruv on Orange & Rockland utility poles. PVC pipes were used as markers.

The association and two Rockland County Orthodox Jewish residents claimed in the suit that the township religious animus, fear, and xenophobia were the contributing factors in the Township Council's unanimous vote to issue summonses if PVC pipes on utility poles that outline the eruv remain displayed.

The lawsuit claimed that the town, especially Mayor Bill Laforet, initially recognized the eruv's constitutional validity, but later yielded to an openly anti-Semitic campaign by residents Mahwah and other neighboring municipalities.

Officials previously said the eruv was prohibited. Michael J. Kelly, the township's zoning officer, sent a letter to the fund stating that installing the eruv "constitutes a prohibited activity and is therefore a violation" of town law.

As amended, the sign ordinance — which previously banned only "signs" on utility poles — now includes expanded language prohibiting the posting of "any … device or other matter" on a utility pole, shade tree, lamp post, curbstone, sidewalk or upon any public structure or building in Mahwah.

A month after initiating efforts to amend the sign ordinance language, the council authorized Michael Kelly, Mahwah's zoning officer, to issue summonses against the Bergen Rockland Eruv Association for violating the existing ordinance. The State's lawsuit observes that, prior to the sign ordinance being amended, the Eruv Association had worked cooperatively with Orange & Rockland Utilities, the Mahwah township administration and the Mahwah police department in creating the eruv.

Related:

• Town Tells Jewish Organization To Remove Eruv Markers
• Hundreds Of Residents Meet To Discuss Ways Of Getting Rid Of Mahwah Eruv
• Eruv Markers Vandalized, Mahwah Police Launch Bias Crime Investigation

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com

Image via Shutterstock