Earlier this spring, two churches filed a federal lawsuit against Morris County, alleging discrimination after being denied grant funding. Vianella Burns , Patch Staff Earlier this spring, two churches filed a federal lawsuit against Morris County, alleging discrimination after being denied grant funding. (Google Maps ) LONG VALLEY, NJ — Two Morris County churches, including Zion Lutheran Church, have 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 Long Valley congregation claimed that the county’s policy of prohibiting houses of worship from receiving taxpayer-funded historical preservation grants amounted to "unconstitutional discrimination on the basis of religion." The First Liberty Institute, a Texas nonprofit, and the religious liberty law clinic at Pepperdine University in California assisted the two churches in filing the lawsuit. Once again, the lawsuit is naming Morris County as a defendant along with the Morris County Board of County Commissioners, the Morris County Historic Preservation Trust Fund Review Board and John Krickus, the county board’s commissioner director. […]
