Federal Judge Mendon Morrill today denied applications made in United States District Court here for a restraining order to prevent New Jersey’s Sunday closing law from being enforced against persons who keep Saturday as their day of religious rest and observance.
Judge Morrill’s ruling was issued in the case of two Orthodox Jewish merchants, who had challenged the ban on Sunday sales on the ground that the law violates constitutional guarantees of religious freedom.
The next step in the case will be a hearing December 11 by a three judge federal court here on motions for a temporary injunction aimed at barring enforcement of the. Sunday sales ban until its constitutionality has been determined. The case may ultimated be appealed to the United States Supreme Court, American Jewish Congress attorneys said today. The American Jewish Congress sees the issue as a major test case affecting religious liberty and separation of church and state.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.