(AP) A new federal court order says a Mississippi city must allow construction of a mosque, two months after the American Civil Liberties Union filed a discrimination lawsuit against the city on behalf of two Muslim men who want to develop the place of worship.
The lawsuit said Horn Lake officials were motivated by anti-Muslim prejudice when the city rejected a zoning request for what would be the first mosque in DeSoto County, Mississippi, which is just south of Memphis, Tennessee.
Hours after the lawsuit was filed in early November, U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills wrote that the suit presented “very serious, and if proven factually accurate, strong allegations of religious discrimination.”
On Monday, Mills filed a consent decree in favor of the plaintiffs, Maher Abuirshaid and Riyadh Elkhayyat, with agreement from them and city officials. He ordered the city to pay the men $25,000 and unspecified attorneys’ fees.
