WHITE PLAINS — A federal judge has dismissed all claims raised by dissidents who said their Hasidic Jewish village was violating religious freedom and should be dissolved.
The plaintiffs, who follow a different Hasidic leader, had claimed that the majority congregation took over the government of Kiryas Joel, an Orange County village about 40 miles north of New York City. They said leaders selectively enforced tax, zoning, election and other laws to oppress them.
In an opinion filed Wednesday in Manhattan, Judge Jed Rakoff dismissed several claims because they were settled in earlier cases. He dismissed others because the people allegedly harmed were not among the plaintiffs.
The judge also found that the dissidents' complaint "does not adequately allege that the defendants' actions were motivated by religious differences."
The lawsuit asked that the village be dissolved, or religious leaders be barred from government office for 25 years.
But the judge said village officials could not be barred just because of their membership in the majority congregation. The plaintiffs' lawyer, Michael Sussman, said he would appeal.
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