Attorney general sides with Rhode Island synagogue
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The attorney general of Rhode Island is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a lower court's decision that gave a New York congregation control of Rhode Island's Touro Synagogue and a set of bells valued in the millions.
Attorney General Peter Kilmartin on Friday filed a friend of the court brief urging the high court to reverse the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling.
Touro Synagogue in Newport is the oldest synagogue in the U.S., dating to the mid-1700s.
Kilmartin said in the brief the appeals court committed a legal error by not following or even referencing Rhode Island law on charitable trusts.
The sides have been fighting for years over who controls the synagogue.