Orthodox Union Urges SCOTUS To Protect the Right To Pray At Home — Without Government Harassment

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (“Orthodox Union”) — the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization — filed a friend-of-the-court brief in Daniel Grand v. City of University Heights, Ohio, a case addressing whether local governments can use land-use regulations to restrict religious practice while denying plaintiffs their right to sue until they exhaust the local zoning process.

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the fall. The brief can be read here. The brief was drafted in partnership with the law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP.

The case centers on Daniel Grand, an Orthodox Jew in University Heights, Ohio. As an Orthodox Jew, Grand is supposed to pray with a minyan — a gathering of ten men — and cannot drive to synagogue on the Sabbath. As such, he invited nearby Jews to gather at his home Saturday morning for prayer services.

The city of University Heights issued a cease-and-desist order, deeming the gathering a “place of religious assembly,” illegal without a city-issued permit. When Grand filed suit arguing a violation of his religious liberty, the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit said the case was not “ripe” because Grand had withdrawn his permit application before the city reached a final decision.

In its amicus brief, the Orthodox Union argues that the city’s zoning ordinance restricts religious practice, which is often centered around the home and time-bound. For Jews, the ruling threatens government interference with important home-based observances including “sitting shiva” after the death of a loved one or celebrating the Passover Seder.

The Sixth Circuit’s opinion creates an unfair Catch-22 in which a city can restrict a person’s religious practice, while simultaneously denying his right to challenge that restriction in court.

“Our Constitution enshrines the right to religious liberty in the First Amendment, but a right you cannot enforce is no right at all,” Executive Director Nathan Diament said. “The Sixth Circuit’s opinion gives a blank check to cities to restrict religious practice because it takes away a person’s right to challenge those restrictions in court. It also creates a perverse incentive for cities to encourage bureaucratic delays without consequence.

“The Orthodox Union has been fighting religious discrimination in municipal land-use regulations for more than 25 years,” Diament continued. “We have made great progress, but that progress is the result of constant vigilance and an individual’s constitutional right to seek judicial review when government crosses a line. The Supreme Court should overturn the Sixth Circuit’s opinion and uphold that right.”

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For more information about the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center and its initiatives, visit: https://advocacy.ou.org.