By Rob Jennings | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
The historic First Reformed Church in Pequannock,, which served as a stop on the Underground Railroad and whose cemetery holds the graves of soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War amongst others (Steve Hockstein / For NJ Advance Media)
A nearly four-year long battle in Morris County over using tax dollars to fix up historic churches may be resolved by the nation's highest court.
The Morris County freeholder board is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its challenge to a New Jersey State Supreme Court ruling, in April, that barred the county continuing to allot historic preservation grants to 12 churches in the county.
As part of the ruling, the dozen churches were allowed to keep $4.6 million allotted over several years to repair stained glass windows with religious imagery, slate roofs, build towers and ventilation systems, and make other improvements.
However, future funding was cut off.
Morris County is being represented by the Washington-based Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which filed a 326-page petition on Tuesday.
Diana Verm, a lawyer for Becket, said that churches should not be denied access to historic preservation funds.
"Time does not discriminate," Verm said in a statement provided by Becket.
"It takes its toll on all our historic structures, secular and religious alike. The county should not be forced to discriminate by favoring secular sites in its preservation efforts."
Hank Lyon, center, taking the oath of freeholder deputy director at the Morris County freeholder meeting in Morristown, Jan. 3, 2016 (Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
Ironically, the origins of the legal battle stem from objections raised by a former Morris County freeholder.
In January 2015, Freeholder William "Hank" Lyon introduced a resolution to eliminate funding for historic preservation projects to religious institutions.
Lyon noted, at that time, that the New Jersey Constitution specifies that state residents may not be "obliged" to pay taxes to repair churches or other places of worship.
"I agree that the churches are beautiful and provide a lot of historic value," Lyon said at that time. "But if it's illegal, it's illegal."
Lyon withdrew his resolution two weeks later, stating that the issue should be resolved by either the courts or a constitutional amendment rather than a county governing board.
FFRF Legal Director Rebecca Markert discusses a court ruling in support of taking down a cross from a city-owned park in Pensacola, Fla. (Video by FFRF)
About a year later, in January 2016, the Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) filed a lawsuit in state court challenging the historic preservation grants.
Though filed in Morris County, the lawsuit was immediately transferred to Somerset County, to avoid a conflict of interest.
In January 2017, Somerset County Superior Court Chancery Division Judge Margaret Goodzeit ruled that awarding the grants to historic churches did not violate the New Jersey Constitution.
"Excluding historical churches from receipt of reimbursements available to all historical buildings would be tantamount to impermissibly withholding of general benefits to certain citizens on the basis of their religion...and would be inconsistent with the spirit of our state and federal Constitutions," Goodzeit wrote in her decision.
NJ Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner, left, speaking with Senate President Steve Sweeney in Trenton, Feb. 16, 2016 (Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
The New Jersey Supreme Court agreed to hear the case and, in April 2018, overturned the lower-court ruling and ruled against the county.
Chief Justice Stuart Rabner delivered the court's opinion, writing that "the plain language of the Religious Aid Clause bars the use of taxpayer funds to repair and restore churches, and that Morris County's program ran afoul of that longstanding provision."
Rabner noted that all 12 churches hold regular services benefitting from the repairs and that several applied for the grants in order to continue holding services.
"The churches are not being denied grant funds because they are religious institutions; they are being denied public funds because of what they plan to do -- and in many cases have done: use public funds to repair church buildings so that religious worship services can be held there," Rabner wrote.
Sign by the Grace Chapel of the historic First Reformed Church in Pequannock. (Steve Hockstein / For NJ Advance Media)
In May, the Morris County freeholder board voted unanimously to file an appeal and announced that it would be represented by Becket, free of charge.
"The county's preservation program was created for a secular purpose: to preserve historic landmarks," the freeholder board said in a statement at that time.
"The Board of Freeholders are retaining Beckett because the board believes the State Supreme Court made the wrong decision. It believes the historic churches in Morris County are critical to the county community, the county's economy, and to the county's history."
Then-Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno swears in Morris County Freeholder Douglas Cabana, as his father Richard Cabana looks on, in Morristown, Jan. 6, 2017 (Alexandra Pais | For NJ Advance Media)
Becket, on Tuesday, provided a statement of support from Morris County Freeholder Freeholder Director Doug Cabana.
"In Morris County, we want to preserve all of our historical sites, including our magnificent houses of worship, some of which date back to the 1700s and were designed by the leading architects of their time," Cabana said.
"Preserving the character and beauty of our county is a critical element of the county's cultural and economic success," Cabana said.
File photo
The chances of the U.S. Supreme Court agreeing to hear the case are low. It agrees to hear only a small faction of the requests for review,
In 2014, the Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge to New Jersey's stringent, 'justifiable need' standard for approving gun carry permits.
Nineteen states had backed a lawsuit whose lead plaintiff was John Drake, a Fredon resident denied a carry permit despite having a job requiring him to service ATM machines.
The justices will conference starting in October and choose cases to be heard by June 2019.
Here are some other stories about churches
-- Don't burn your Nikes because of Kaepernick, wear them to church, pastor says
-- A sacred history: Here are 15 of the oldest churches in New Jersey
-- Gov. Murphy races to sanctuary church after ICE detains 2 in N.J.
-- Tale of these 2 trees at church is beautiful example of circle of life
Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RobJenningsNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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