Two months after Bernards Township agreed to a $3.25 million settlement of litigation over its denial of a mosque application, the settlement has been challenged in two suits by a conservative religious group.

One suit by the Thomas More Law Center seeks a declaration that the settlement in Islamic Society of Basking Ridge v. Bernards Township is unconstitutional because it barred the board from taking residents' comments about Islam or Muslims at a planning board hearing on the mosque application. The group also filed another suit claiming the town's adoption of the settlement violated the Open Public Meetings Act.

In a suit filed July 31 in federal court, the law center challenges a provision of the settlement barring comments about the applicants' religion on behalf of Christopher and Loretta Quick, who live next to the proposed mosque site.