6 events in Passaic County with a date

NJ protest regulations threaten First Amendment, critics warn

By: Hannan Adely
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... Tempers flared and tensions deepened as prot4ests erupted outside synagogues and private residences hosting Israeli real estate fairs during the past two years.
..... Now, new local protest restrictions and a Departed of Justice lawsuit -a response to the heated prot4ests - have put the Garden State in the cross-hairs of a national debate over the balance among freedom of speech, the right to worship and public safety.
..... Supporters say stricter rules are needed to protect Jewish Americans form harassment near their place of worship or home. Protesters say their actions, opposing the sale of property in West Bank settlements, considered illegal under international law, are protected free speech.
..... Some activists worry about wider repercussions on free speech.
..... "At this time when the federal government is trying to restrict protest," said Teaneck resident Paula Rogovin, "we cannot have our towns tightening up rules and trying to limit protests." Rogovin has led weekly anti-war protest outside the Teaneck Armory since 2005. Fro the first time in two decades, she had to seek a permit from the town, now required for any"special event" on public property.
..... Applying new rules, Teaneck denied a permit for a "ands Across New Jersey" demonstration on September 17 [2025] opposing Trump policies and issued summonses when people showed up for the event.
..... Towns and cities have considerable leeway to regulate time, place and manner of demonstrations, as long as they are not discriminatory or overboard, said Amol Sinha, executive director of the American Civil Libretoes Union of New Jersey.
..... Although inspired by pro-Palestinian protests, officials in Teaneck and Bergenfield, where new rules were adopted in March, [2025] said the ordinances were "content-neutral" as required under the law, meaning they must be applied equally to all speech, Sinha said ACLNJ will monitor to ensure that happens.

Feds step in

..... From Sinha's perspective, the Trump administration has already failed the neutrality test.
..... "the Trump administration is suing as many tools as it possibly can to censor and silence ideologies hat it disagrees with and we are seeing that across the country, whether talking about protesters, media, academia or nonprofit organizations," he said.
..... Last month, [09/2025] the Justice Department sued pro--Palestinian protesters who rallied outside a West Orange synagogue under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrenches Act, or FACE act. The law had been used to protect access to abortion clinics. The Trump administration stopped applying it to clinics and dropped pending cases form the Biden era.
..... The lawsuit, field September 29 [2025] in a New Jersey federal court, marked the first time the law has been used to claim interference with religious worship, according to the Justice Department.
..... In West Orange, the Trump administration is "using the full force of the Justice Department and Civil Rights Division not to promote civil rights but to silence speech," Sinha said.
..... Jewish residents who support the federal lawsuit say the reverse is true - that the Justice Department is protecting their right to worship free from obstruction or harassment.
..... "Federal civil rights law is unequivocal" Houses of worship and religious freedom must be protected," the Benjamin Ryberg, chief operating officer at The Lawfare Project, which provides pro bono legal services for Jewish and pro-Israel causes, in a statement. "The FACE Act was enacted to prevent intimidation at America's religious institutions."
..... The federal lawsuit alleges that the protesters obstructed, harass and assaulted worshipers. Protesters say they were the ones attacked, noting that the charges in connection with the incident.
..... The lawsuit calls for a court order barring the defendants - six individuals and two pro-Palestinian groups - from organizing, participating in, or promoting any demonstration within 500 feet of any place of worship in New Jersey during religious services or events, without a valid permit.

An emotional debate

..... Protests near homes and houses of worship have long sparked abate and controversy - including protests outside churches over abortion and LGBTQ issues and anti-Islam demonstration outside mosques.
..... The protests over the real estate events and settlements have renewed the debate.
..... Some Jewish residents say they have a right to live in the West Bank, which some Israelis view as part of their greater homeland, citing their ancestral and biblical heritage. Others say the protests - which at times have escalated into yelling and insults and led to a smattering of arrests among bout protesters and counter protesters - don't belong outside synagogues or private homes.
..... Protesters say that Jewish-only settlements drive Palestinians off their land, entrench a harsh military occupation and are a key obstacle to peace. Palestinian Americans, who see rapid expansion of settlements and seizures of Palestinian land as an existential threat, say they feel compelled to speak out when settlement properties are marketing their backyards.
..... Arguments over free speech and religious rights have spilled into emotional pleas at council meetings. In March, [2025] Bergenfield revise it protest policy. Teaneck did the same in April. [2025]
..... Both boroughs now require a permit for any "special event" including a parade, walkabout, block party, demonstrativeness or other organized group activity taking place on public property.
..... Teaneck imposed a 100-foot buffer zone for activities "that are undertaken to disrupt" outside houses of worship, private homes and some public buildings, including fire and police stations. Beregenfield's ordinance does the same, except with a 50-foot buffer.
..... The administer and manager in those towns will issue permit if they determine the events don't have "unlawful propose," or "cause a breach of the peace," the ordinances state.
..... Critics, such as Center for Constitutional Rights, believe it violates citizens' rights by creating "unconstitutionally vague prohibitions on expressive activity."
..... Officials in those towns, who consulted with attorney's, said the ordinances don't take away anyone's right to protest. Instead, they put rules in place to ensure that the rights and safety of all citizens are respected. Similar ordinances can be found in oh tr U.S. cites and towns, they noted.

Permit denied

..... Rogovin worried that the ordinances concentrated too much power in a few hands to oversee demonstrations. She worried about permissions for Pro-Palestiaian protests, given the backlash to them. But she only knew of one event that had been restricted, and it had nothing to do with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
..... In that case, organizers had applied for a permit for Hands Across New Jersey demonstration in Teaneck more than seven days in advance, as mandated by the new ordinance. it was one of numerous events across the state on September 17 [2025] to cerate a "living chain of resistance against authoritarianism."
..... Statewide organizer Christie Rea-Briskin said the group did not hear back from the town, so assumed it had been approved. But at the event, police issued summonses to two coordinators.
..... The application had been denied because demonstrators planed to block traffic and to hold the event within 100 feet of a synagogue within an hour of religious activity, the police chief said. summons were issued for lack of permit: for sue of wooden poles to hold up signs, which are banned; and for obstruction pedestrian traffic.
..... Rea-Briskin said no one obstructed traffic, sidewalks or entrances to buildings, Despite what she called a government "glitch," Rea-Briskin was understanding and said she trusted that towns like Teaneck were acting in the best interest of their citizens.
..... She views the federal and local actions toward prot4est as different issues, and believes towns are acting with intent to help, not harm.
..... "I am somewhat alarmed by current events and what's coming out of the federal government with regard to deporting peaceful protesters," she said. "that being said, I am confident that our local government and our local law enforcement are on the right side of this."

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