WMOT/AP — The fight over construction of a new Mosque near Memphis echoes the battle over a mid-state mosque a decade ago.
A federal judge this week ordered the town of Horn Lake, Mississippi, to allow the permitting process for a new mosque to proceed. The city of 26,000 just south of the Tennessee-Mississippi border was sued by the American Civil Liberties Union after it refused to approve zoning for the mosque.
Muslim residents of Rutherford County faced a similar challenge beginning in 2010 when they sought permission to build a place of worship in Murfreesboro.
The four year battle over the mid-state mosque's construction included demonstrations, counter demonstrations, work site vandalism, and multiple lawsuits. One legal challenge went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court before the matter was finally settled.