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Asbury Park
Press
Judge refuses to halt
Ocean Grove investigation
BY BILL BOWMAN.
APP.COM from the Web, August 31, 2007
Posted COASTAL
MONMOUTH BUREAU, August 28th, 2007
TRENTON — The state's Division
on Civil Rights does not have to stop its investigation into whether the Ocean
Grove Camp Meeting Association discriminated against two lesbian couples by
refusing to let them use the boardwalk pavilion for their civil union
ceremonies.
U.S. District Court Judge Joel Pisano, sitting in Trenton, this morning refused
to issue an injunction against the investigation, as was requested in a motion
filed Saturday by the Scottsdale, Az.-based Alliance Defense Fund.
The ADF is representing the Camp Meeting Association in its federal lawsuit
against the civil rights division and its director, Frank Vespa-Papaleo.
Pisano set an Oct. 1 return date for the ADF's motion and a motion by the state
to dismiss the suit.
In the meantime, the civil rights division has agreed to extend to Oct. 1 the
deadline by which the association has to respond to the complaints filed against
it by the two couples.
The association contends that by simply investigating the complaints, the
division is violating the association's right to free speech and religious
freedom rights.
The division, in its motion to dismiss filed Monday, contends that federal
courts cannot interfere in a state legal matter when there is an ongoing legal
procedure, such as the investigation. The civil rights division cited
several U.S. Supreme Court decisions, dating back to 1971, in its brief.
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