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WMAR - ABC 2
December 24, 2018 | By Eddie Kadhim
Religion News Service - RNS
Chabad outpost files $10 million lawsuit over order to demolish building
December 22, 2018 | By Mark M. Kellner
Two years ago, leaders of a Chabad outpost in Towson, Md., expanded their home, hoping to make room to serve Jewish students at two nearby colleges.
County officials want to tear the addition down, saying the structure violates local zoning rules. A county court agreed and issued a demolition order.
On Thursday (Dec. 20), Chabad leaders filed suit in U.S. District Court, seeking $10 million in damages.
Times of Israel
Towson, Baltimore County, Trying to Tear Down a Chabad House
Baltimore County Has the Most Religious Discrimination Cases Filed Against a Single County Nationwide
December 22, 2018 | By Charlie Taylor
On Thursday, December 20, 2018, with the help of respected constitutional attorney Nathan Lewin, Chabad filed a federal lawsuit against Baltimore County, calling out a pattern of unlawful actions it took against Chabad Rabbi Mendy and Sheiny Rivkin and the Jewish students at Towson University and Goucher College in violation of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (“RLUIPA”).
The lawsuit comes after county courts refused to overturn the unprecedented court demolition order on Chabad’s $800,000 extension, which serves local college students. The suit details how Baltimore County officials falsely stated that the Chabad House was in violation of zoning laws, claiming that it was serving not as a “residence,” but as a “community center,” a term that does not exist in Baltimore zoning laws. A county spokesperson had even gone so far as to state that “should the Chabad continue to host Friday night dinners [at Rabbi Rivkin’s home] in violation of the board’s decision, the County is prepared to enforce the board’s order.” Rabbi Rivkin is the only rabbi in Towson, but in this draconian reality, hosting people at his home for Shabbat dinner is somehow outlawed and punishable, perhaps even by having his home torn down.
Baltimore Sun
Towson Chabad files federal lawsuit against Baltimore County, alleging religious discrimination
December 20, 2018 | By Libby Solomon
The operators of a Jewish outreach program in Towson have filed a federal lawsuit against Baltimore County, claiming the county discriminated against them when it ruled an expansion of their Chabad house was illegal and must be torn down.
JNS
Chabad files $10 million lawsuit against Baltimore County, citing discrimination
December 20, 2018
A day before deadline, Chabad filed a $10 million federal lawsuit against Baltimore County, citing religious discrimination and defamation, for seeking to demolish the recently built, $1 million Chabad-Lubavitch of Towson, which serves students from nearby Towson University and Goucher College.
Cleveland Jewish News
Chabad files $10 million lawsuit against Baltimore County, citing discrimination
December 20, 2018
Baltimore Jewish Times
Too Far in Towson? Jewish center faces demand to demolish
December 12, 2018 | By Susan C. Ingram
A story about the potential demolition of the Rohr Chabad Jewish Center at Towson and Goucher has made headlines in recent weeks, as it was slated to be razed next month. But Friends of Lubavitch, which owns the property in question at 14 Aigburth Road in Towson, are still fighting to keep the center intact and have filed another appeal. The tear-down order was first issued in April 2017 for the structure to be removed by March 1 of this year.
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
A Chabad House in Maryland is set to be demolished, but it’s fighting back
November 29, 2018 | By Josefin Dolsten
For years, a Chabad House near Towson University in Maryland has been fighting with neighbors who say it expanded its building illegally. Now the battle is heating up after a Baltimore County judge this month affirmed an order to demolish the addition.
Last week, the Chabad brought on Washington, D.C.-based attorney Nathan Lewin, who has argued numerous religious liberty cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. Lewin said the Chabad is exploring its next steps in fighting the demolition.