In his article, “Amid Religious Discrimination Probe, Mobile Takes Buddhist Meditation Center to Court,” John Sharp states that the city of Mobile has filed a state lawsuit seeking a permanent injunction against the Buddhist Center at the same time that the U.S Department of Justice is looking into whether the city’s commission and council violated the Federal Religious Land Use Law by denying the center’s project on Eloong Drive in South of Downtown Mobile. Late last year, Dr. Prasit and his wife Lar Nimityongskul being the head of the Buddhist Meditation Center in Mobile felt the need to relocate their meditation center from what they called “cramped and bustling Airport Boulevard” to a less lousy place on Eloong Drive. It was a perfect idea for them, except that the residents and the city weren’t in support. The group first sought their planning approval last year but nearby residents protested claiming that the meditation center would cause traffic and noise and that it didn’t conform with housing developed along the serene river south of Downtown Mobile. On two different occasions in March, Lar Nimityongskul gathered …show more content…
The city of Mobile not waiting for the investigation to come to an end, proceeded to file a lawsuit against this religion for keeping up with their beliefs and practices in this residential zone. John Lawler, a former city attorney who is representing the Meditation Center said that he believes the city acted wrongly in rejecting the Eloong Drive project. “I don 't recall seeing that happen in 30 years where an application for planning approval was outright denied," said Lawler, once an attorney for the Planning Commission. "We always put conditions that are needed to be met. You are entitled to reasonable