Deadline extended in fight over US synagogue
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A lawyer for the nation's oldest synagogue says a judge has extended the deadline to file a rehearing petition after an appeals court decision that gave ownership of the Rhode Island house of worship and bells worth millions of dollars to a New York congregation.
In a filing this week with the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals, lawyers for the congregation that worships at the Touro Synagogue in Newport say they plan to argue that last week's decision by a three-judge panel raises important constitutional issues. They say what's at stake is the continued vitality of the congregation that has prayed there for longer than 100 years.
Lawyers said Wednesday that retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter, who wrote the decision, entered an order for an extension to September 5.
