Jackson eruv, dorm anti-Semitism investigation looks at residents' emails

JACKSON - Where are federal and state investigators getting their evidence in their religious discrimination investigations of the township?

It could be from your "sent" email folder.

Among the thousands of pages of documents requested in subpoenas issued by the Department of Justice and New Jersey Attorney General's Office are the emails received by the township from private citizens – in addition to officials' social media posts, including comments, and minutes or recordings from public meetings.

Individual residents aren't the target of investigators. But correspondence with township officials can help investigators understand the climate in town when allegedly discriminatory government action was set into motion, Seton Hall Law School professor Thomas Healy said.

Such correspondence is considered public record and can be requested through the state's Open Public Records Act. Residents writing their elected officials should have "almost zero expectation for privacy," Healy said.

MORE: Does Jackson's dorm ordinance discriminate against Orthodox Jews?

“They’re interested in this correspondence to try and figure out what the intent was behind the legislation,” he said. “The constitutional test is whether there was a discriminatory motive on the part of the lawmakers. So you want to look at the legislative history, the historical background and the context.

"Finding out what kind of correspondence local officials have with people might help uncover that," he said.

The subpoenas, issued by the U.S. Justice Department in August and the state Attorney General's office in November, center around two controversial land-use moves that Orthodox Jewish groups have argued are anti-Semitic in nature.

The first change came last spring, when the township's zoning laws were changed so that construction of schools and dormitories were effectively banned. Over the last few years, Orthodox Jewish groups have sought to build a Jewish school or yeshiva, including student housing.

And in September, the township began enforcing a previously forgotten law and started issuing violation notices to private "eruvin." An eruv is a religious boundary, usually consisting of poles and wire, that allow Orthodox Jews to carry objects – including children – on the Sabbath and certain holidays.

The state's Nov. 8 subpoena in Jackson was foreshadowed two weeks earlier, when state Attorney General Christopher Porrino filed suit against Mahwah Township for a similar anti-eruv move.

In a statement, Porrino warned: "Our message to local officials in other towns who may be plotting to engage in similar attempts to illegally exclude, is the same: We will hold you accountable as well."

The council later changed the law itself, which prevented the Jackson Eruv Association from seeking permission to build a public eruv on utility poles.

The dormitory and eruv ordinances come against a backdrop of increasing cultural change in town, as more and more Orthodox Jews call Jackson home.

JACKSON GROWS UP: Orthodox, senior communities on the rise

Many longtime Jackson residents have spoken out about the cultural change – sometimes in coarse terms – on social media and in government hearings.

One of them, Jennifer Cusanelli, emailed code enforcement officials last spring after a private eruv – not attached to a utility pole – was constructed on the right-of-way lawn in front of her Blue Spruce Drive home.

"Why should I have to look at a religious structure of any kind on public property?" she asked. "As an atheist, I am highly offended by this and I'm sure other atheists in town will also be. ... People are being pushed out and it's not longer a matter of telling your neighbors 'don't sell.' It's a matter of the walls closing in on residents."

"There is certainly a plan and that plan is to buy up as much as they possibly can and take Jackson. So if we don't get on the ball and figure out a way to slow it down legally then we are dead," Cusanelli wrote in another Feb. 14 email.

Both of her missives would appear to fit the description of citizens' correspondence sought by the state and federal investigators.

In an interview, Cusanelli said she wasn't against a public eruv attached to a utility pole: Such a structure is basically hidden, she said. Instead, her concern is that "special accommodations" are given to the town's Orthodox Jewish community because of a religious need.

"I don’t care what you preach or what you believe in. I don’t want it infringing on my personal rights,” Cusanelli said. “Your religion is not a handicap and it shouldn’t be treated as such. You shouldn’t get special accommodations because of your religious needs.”

As the eruv issue continued boiling over at public meetings in the fall, residents' complaints grew more tense. Some emails simply served as an alert, with a location of a presumably illegal eruv. Public meetings turned into screaming matches.

"Why would anyone remain in this town when we are all sitting ducks to a religious takeover," one resident wrote in an email.

In an interview, Jackson Mayor Michael Reina said he welcomed "whatever investigation they feel they have to do." He denied that the township was operating "with any type of prejudice in any way, shape or form."

MORE: Is Jackson next for AG lawsuit?

“There are a handful of people saying ‘we don’t want them here,’ or ‘it’s a cult,’ but that’s not the township speaking," Reina said. "These are emails sent to us from residents or on Facebook posts."

Social media has also caused a stir for township council members, who last year instituted new rules for appointments after two former board members' Facebook histories came to light.

John Burrows, who once cast a vote against an Orthodox Jewish girls' school, resigned in 2015 but has since referred to Lakewood's Orthodox Jewish community as "filthy (expletive) cockroaches."

And Larry Schuster, who resigned one week after his appointment, came under fire for public Facebook posts lambasting members of the township's Orthodox Jewish community, including one image of a man installing an eruv.

"You have to make sure people are ethical, well-respected and good enough to be appointed to the position," Councilman Barry Calogero said of the scandals.

The state and federal officials aren't the only ones reviewing Jackson's policies.

In a separate action, the Orthodox Jewish advocacy group Agudath Israel filed suit against the township arguing that the dormitory and eruv ordinance discriminate against Jews.

MORE: Lawsuit claims Jackson eruv ban was anti-Semitic

The township council has since approved an interim settlement of the lawsuit and expressed support for a public eruv built on utility poles.

Additionally, the two sides are in mediation over construction of a Jewish school with dormitories in town. Nonetheless, in an earlier statement, the group welcomed scrutiny of the town's actions.

"Jackson Township has definitely introduced some ordinances over the past few years that are quite questionable and we are sort of comforted in knowing that the attorney general is looking into it," said Avi Schnall, state director for Agudath Israel.

Mike Davis; @byMikeDavis: 732-643-4223; mdavis@gannettnj.com