Republican American
Rabbi Yosef Eisenbach, director of Chabad of Litchfield County, Connecticut, in front of the property.

Chabad Lawsuit Reinstated Against CT Town

A federal appeals court has reinstated a Chabad rabbi’s lawsuit accusing the Litchfield Historic District Commission of religious discrimination when it rejected plans for a synagogue in 2007.

A three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. District Court of Appeals in New York City ruled Friday that federal Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven was wrong to dismiss the lawsuit by Chabad Lubavitch of Northwest Connecticut.

The panel said Hall erred by ruling that part of a federal law barring government interference in religious exercise didn’t apply to the case.

The Historic District Commission decided Chabad Lubavitch’s proposed 17,000-square-foot addition to an 1870s Victorian house to create a new synagogue was too large for the local historic district.

Lawyers in the case didn’t immediately return messages Monday.

One Comment

  • no one special

    The Chabad mantra of religious discrimination was not basis for overturning the decision.