Orthodox Jew asks Supreme Court to hear case after city allegedly targeted his home prayer group

An Orthodox Jewish homeowner in Ohio is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to revive his lawsuit after he says city officials targeted him for trying to host a prayer gathering in his home.

Daniel Grand said he invited about a dozen friends to join him for prayer at his home in University Heights in January 2021. After a neighbor learned of the planned gathering and complained to city officials, Grand received a cease-and-desist letter, and then-Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan told him he would need a special-use permit to comply with local zoning rules governing religious assemblies.Grand initially applied for the permit in an effort to comply before he fully understood what the city was requiring.

He later learned that the permit was designed for his property to operate as a house of worship and carried requirements including three acres of land, parking accommodations and other conditions. According to Grand, obtaining the permit would have converted his home into a nonresidential property, meaning he could no longer live there.He told Fox News Digital that city officials never explained those requirements.

SOUTH CAROLINA MAN TOLD HE NEEDS A PERMIT TO HOLD A SIGN ABOUT HIS FAITH ON PUBLIC SIDEWALK"Basically, the city knew what they were doing," Grand said. "They tricked me. I felt like they lied to me, actually.

And I simply tried to comply. So the next day, trying to be a good Samaritan, if you will, I went ahead, and I followed their advice that they gave me in that cease and desist letter, thinking I would just be able to have this permit. And it opened up into a very large scale negative event."

After realizing what the permit would require, Grand withdrew his application. He alleges Brennan encouraged neighbors to report activity at his home and that police conducted frequent drive-bys. Grand also alleges city services stopped collecting his trash for several weeks and that officials threatened him with "bogus" property violations in an effort to build a case against hi