Texas town is scrutinized over blocking Muslim cemetery plan
FARMERSVILLE, Texas—Federal officials are investigating whether a Texas town violated the law by halting a religious association's plans to build a Muslim cemetery.
The Dallas Morning News reports that the Farmersville City Council unanimously voted this week to
enter negotiations to reach a potential settlement that would allow the cemetery to proceed and avoid a lawsuit.
The Islamic Association of Collin County announced in July 2015 that it planned to create a graveyard on the land it bought in the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction. But the City Council denied the organization's preliminary plan last summer.
The city says the U.S. Attorney General's Office "has approved the filing of a lawsuit against the city under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act." The act aims to stop local municipalities from discriminating against land use decisions.
http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/texas/story/2018/aug/31/texas-town-scrutinized-over-blocking-muslim-cemetery-plan/741214/
(brief article)
