Daniel Grand is a devout Orthodox Jew in University Heights, Ohio. He wished to hold a minyamin in his house, a gathering with at least ten adult males on the Jewish Sabbath and High Holidays. The city issued an order prohibiting him from hosting the group without securing a special zoning permit—as if he were trying to create a church or synagogue. When he challenged the city’s cease and desist order and other discriminatory conduct under the First Amendment and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), the courts below kicked the case out, holding that a court cannot hear such a claim until the homeowner had applied for a special-use permit and been denied. The Sixth Circuit based that holding on a case called Williamson County, which imposes such a “finality” requirement where property owners allege that zoning laws have essentially taken their property without just compensation. In doing so, the Sixth Circuit deepened a circuit split and set a roadmap for other jurisdictions to impermissibly burden the right to free religious exercise.
The Manhattan Institute has filed a brief supporting the petition for Supreme Court review filed by Mr. Grand, who is representing himself. We argue that this is an act of religious discrimination, and that there is no need for Mr. Grand to wait in order to vindicate his rights. His constitutional rights were harmed the moment the city blocked his religious worship, and it doesn’t matter that a permitting system was the method of that harm. Moreover, there’s reason to believe that the visibility of Orthodox Jews—distinctly dressed men who walk to the house rather than drive on the Sabbath—is why Mr. Grand was singled out. That has disturbing implications for religious minorities who might stand out in the crowd. The Court should grant the petition and vindicate Mr. Grand’s right to religious freedom.
Ilya Shapiro is a senior fellow and director of Constitutional Studies at the Manhattan Institute. Follow him on Twitter here.
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