A Building Finished, a Fight Not Yet Over
Construction is finally complete — but a legal dispute over public notice keeps ICM from opening its own doors for months.
Construction Continues
Work continues toward a planned August opening. The biggest obstacle is finding local contractors and subcontractors willing to take on the project, which drives up costs and slows progress.
A Legal Roller Coaster
On June 1, Chancellor Corlew rules against the Rutherford County Planning Department for failing to properly notice the 2010 meeting that led to ICM's site permit — finding that too few copies of the Murfreesboro Post, the paper in which the meeting was advertised, had been distributed, and that officials had not advertised it on the county's website or local cable channel.
On June 3, opponents file a new motion to stop construction, a possibility Corlew's ruling had left open despite its tension with federal religious-freedom law. On June 11, the Rutherford County Regional Planning Commission votes 6 to 1 to appeal Corlew's June 1 ruling. On June 13, Corlew denies opponents' motion to halt construction outright, but rules the county cannot issue ICM an occupancy permit because he had previously voided the site plan's approval — in effect, allowing the building to rise, but not to open. The county's own appeal asking the court to lift that restriction is denied on July 2.
Separately, a Texas man is indicted by federal law enforcement in connection with the 2011 bomb threats against ICM.
The Federal Government Steps In
The U.S. Department of Justice files a lawsuit alleging that Rutherford County violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act through Corlew's decision to block ICM's occupancy permit and void its site-plan approval. The Justice Department's filing criticizes Corlew for holding the mosque to a heightened notice requirement that other religious organizations had not faced.
Federal Judge Todd Campbell issues a temporary restraining order requiring the county to conduct a final inspection and issue ICM a certificate of occupancy if the building meets code. Opponents respond with a lawsuit seeking to overturn Judge Campbell's decision, arguing their own due-process and equal-protection rights had been violated. U.S. District Judge Kevin Sharp gives the county until August 15 to complete construction inspection for occupancy.
U.S. Representative Diane Black publicly criticizes the federal government's intervention, saying, “Christians' rights to freedom for religion are violated frequently and the Obama Justice Department doesn't come rushing to our aid, but they will meddle in a local zoning matter to promote Islam.”
First Prayer in the New Building
On August 10, following final safety inspections, ICM's new building receives a temporary certificate of occupancy and opens its doors for Friday prayers for the first time.
Across the street, members of neighboring Grace Baptist Church place thirteen white crosses in a field. “It was more or less to make a statement to the Muslims about how we felt about our religion, our Christianity,” Mack Richards, the Middle Tennessee Baptist Church member who built the crosses, later says. “We wanted them to see the crosses and know how we felt about things.” Despite the tension and safety concerns, opening day passes peacefully.