State moves to dismiss Nashville mosque's discrimination case

The Islamic Center of Nashville is battling with lawyers for the state in court over whether the center's lawsuit seeking a retroactive tax exemption is a valid federal case.

The state argues the congregation's suit disputes a state tax law and thus should be brought in state court, instead of jumping to federal court where it was filed in September. The state asks a judge to dismiss the federal case. The Islamic Center's lawsuit alleges the state's law places an unfair burden on the mosque because it followed its religious beliefs in a banking deal, and doing so disqualified it for a tax exemption.

In a recent court filing, Tennessee Attorney General Senior Counsel Mary Ellen Knack argued the center cannot sue the Tennessee State Board of Equalization in federal court for several reasons, including because of the Tax Injunction Act. Knack's motion says that prevents challenges to state tax assessments in federal court. A memo says the case should be brought in Davidson County Chancery Court.

She also argues the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which the center alleges the state violated, does not apply to taxes but instead prevents restricting religion via land use zoning.

The center says in response that the Tax Injunction Act prevents people from bringing legal challenges to avoid paying or collecting taxes, and notes the Islamic Center has already paid some of the retroactively billed taxes. It reasserts that the mosque is asking a federal judge to declare the state law unconstitutional on grounds it restricts religion.

"The way the state applied the tax laws in this case affected Islamic Center of Nashville differently than it would affect other religions, which is specifically what the Constitution and the federal religious land use statute are designed to prevent," said Christina Jump, a lawyer at the Constitutional Law Center for Muslims in America, an advocacy firm that represents the Nashville center. "We expect this lawsuit to continue, and at most simply be narrowed down while still reflecting the main focus of the lawsuit, which is to enforce treating all religious entities equally."

In 2008, the 12South mosque built a new building on Charlotte Pike for its Nashville International Academy. The center adheres to Islam's prohibition against paying interest and struck a banking agreement known as an ijara, or ijarah, to pay for the construction without interest, the lawsuit states.

The agreement transferred the property's title to a bank until October 2013, when the Islamic center paid its final payment. The state says in a court memorandum that the transfer of title disqualified the Islamic center for a retroactive tax exemption under Tennessee law.

Reach Stacey Barchenger at 615-726-8968 or on Twitter @sbarchenger.