An Orthodox Jewish homeowner in Ohio has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his case after alleging that city officials targeted him for attempting to host a small minyan in his home.

Daniel Grand, a resident of University Heights, says the dispute began in January 2021 when he invited approximately a dozen friends to daven at his home. After neighbors complained, city officials informed him that he would need a special-use permit to continue holding the gathering. Grand later argued that obtaining such a permit would have effectively required converting his home into a house of worship, imposing extensive zoning requirements that would have made it impossible for him to continue living there.

According to the lawsuit, Grand withdrew his permit application and later alleged that city officials and other agencies engaged in a campaign of harassment and discriminatory enforcement against him because of his religious practices. Grand told Fox News Digital that secular social gatherings in private homes did not face similar scrutiny, while his efforts to host a small prayer gathering were met with legal and regulatory obstacles.

Grand filed suit in 2022, but lower federal courts dismissed key portions of the case, ruling that he had not completed the city’s permitting process before bringing legal action. The city has argued that Grand abandoned the permit process before officials reached a final decision and that he was ultimately informed he could host a prayer gathering in his home without obtaining the permit.

Now, Grand is asking the Supreme Court to decide whether local governments can use zoning and permitting processes in a manner that chills religious exercise while later avoiding judicial review by changing their position. Several Jewish, Christian, and Muslim organizations have filed briefs supporting his petition. The Supreme Court is expected to decide by the end of June whether it will hear the case.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)