In a letter to the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Newton County’s attorney said the board of commissioners (BOC) acted within “its Constitutional and statutory authority” when it adopted a five-week moratorium on permits for places of worship during its Aug. 16 meeting.

Megan Martin, Newton County attorney, sent the letter to Edward Mitchell Friday, executive director of CAIR, on Aug. 19, one day after he sent one to the BOC requesting that it lift the moratorium. The moratorium was enacted after a project was announced for a mosque and cemetery on 135 acres at Georgia Highway 162 and County Line Road.

Mitchell’s letter claimed that the moratorium was put in place because “local leaders and citizens expressed opposition to the project based largely on anti-Muslim bigotry.”

Martin’s letter disputed that statement.

“Notwithstanding your allegations of bias and discrimination, which the County emphatically denies, the County asserts that it has acted entirely within its Constitutional and statutory authority in adopting a short, temporary moratorium in order to address legitimate planning and zoning concerns impacting the health, safety and welfare of the County’s citizens,” the letter said.

Martin also said that the county could not be held responsible for comments of individual members of the community.

Mitchell’s letter referred to examples of citizen comments and a Facebook post from the County Line Baptist Church.

“The County cannot censor speech — either in favor or against any particular point of view,” Martin’s letter said. “We caution you to not equate speculation and community comment with fact relating the County’s official actions. The county has not made a decision to block the planned construction of a Muslim house of worship in Newton County.”

Three days later, on Monday, Aug. 22, the day that Newton County hosted a set of town hall meetings on the proposed mosque, Mitchell responded to Martin. His letter expressed “disappointment with the content of Newton County’s response, particularly its refusal to lift the moratorium and meet for an educational presentation.”

“Perhaps most disappointing was the commission’s remarkable claim that its moratorium had nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with the bias against American Muslims,” Mitchell continued.

Mitchell said the CAIR alerted the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, who has referred the matter to his Civil Rights Division for review.

“Although you did claim that the moratorium is “temporary,” that is irrelevant for the moratorium would not exist if a church had made the exact same request as the mosque,” Mitchell said. “We cannot tolerate this unconstitutional act of religious discrimination, whether it lasts for five weeks or five days.”

Newton County commissioners heard from approximately 50 members of the community during Monday night’s town hall meetings, attended by around 500 over two sessions. The board has made no further actions concerning the mosque or permits for places of worship.