Source: The Miami Herald
h ttp://w ww.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/7703941.htm
On January 28, 2004 The Miami Herald reported, "The Justice Department is throwing its support behind congregations Midrash Sephardi and Young Israel of Bal Harbour, which are challenging local zoning laws that prohibit them from holding prayer services within the town's two-block-long business district. The congregations, with about 100 total members, are appealing the dismissal of their 1999 lawsuit accusing the town of religious discrimination. Similar exclusionary zoning disputes in recent years have pitted houses of worship against municipalities such as Miami Beach and Hollywood. Since Attorney General John Ashcroft took over at Justice three years ago, the civil rights division has made a priority of enforcing a law enacted to protect smaller houses of worship from discriminatory zoning and land-use rules, Acosta said. 'We are witnessing a large number of these types of cases, where small churches and minority religions are often the victims of discrimination or discriminatory practices,' the Miami-bred Acosta said after the hearing. The Surfside appeal was the first he has argued since his confirmation in September. The civil rights division is also investigating more than a dozen complaints nationwide from an array of religions including a Muslim school, a Buddhist temple and various Christian churches."