{"id":3873,"date":"2026-07-30T17:17:04","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T17:17:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=3873"},"modified":"2026-07-30T17:17:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T17:17:04","slug":"in-ohio-poker-night-is-fine-but-praying-with-friends-is-forbidden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=3873","title":{"rendered":"In Ohio, poker night is fine, but praying with friends is forbidden"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The biblical account of\u00a0Daniel in the lions\u2019 den\u00a0is so well known that even those with differing religious beliefs or none are likely familiar with it.\u00a0\u00a0Daniel, a devout Jew exiled in Babylon, was praying in his home, which violated King Darius\u2019s decree.\u00a0\u00a0As punishment, he was cast into a den of lions, but God saved him by miraculously closing the lions\u2019 mouths.<\/p>

Read more There Is No Justice in Minnesota<\/a><\/p>\n

Thousands of years later, another Daniel finds himself at odds with his government over prayer.\u00a0\u00a0The stakes are not life-threatening for this Daniel, but for religious freedom in America, they are dire.<\/p>\n

Daniel Grand is a devout Orthodox Jew who has lived in University Heights, Ohio, a small suburb east of Cleveland, since 2019.\u00a0\u00a0He bought his home to raise his family and live out his faith.\u00a0\u00a0For Daniel, those things are inseparable.<\/p>\n

Orthodox Jewish practice calls for prayer in a group of at least ten men three times every weekday and four times on the Sabbath and Jewish holidays.\u00a0\u00a0On those holy days, driving is prohibited, which means Daniel must either live within walking distance of a synagogue or gather with at least ten Jewish men close to home.\u00a0\u00a0A minyan<\/em> \u2014 a traditional Jewish prayer quorum \u2014 is not a convenience for Daniel.\u00a0\u00a0It is a religious duty.<\/p>\n

He reached out to about a dozen friends near his neighborhood, inviting them to walk to his house the following Sabbath and pray together as a minyan<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0No announcements.\u00a0\u00a0No signage.\u00a0\u00a0No noise.\u00a0\u00a0Just a quiet gathering of men who share their faith and live close enough to walk to each other\u2019s homes.<\/p>\n

A neighbor saw the email and informed the city\u2019s mayor.\u00a0\u00a0The next day \u2014 before the prayer meeting could happen \u2014 the city sent Daniel a cease-and-desist order.\u00a0\u00a0It accused him of operating an illegal \u201cplace of religious assembly.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0It threatened legal penalties.\u00a0\u00a0And it ordered him to stop, citing zoning regulations.<\/p>\n

What happened to Daniel had nothing to do with traffic, noise, or any legitimate zoning concern.\u00a0\u00a0It had to do with the fact that University Heights decided to classify Daniel\u2019s prayer group the same way it classifies actual synagogues and other houses of worship \u2014 as \u201cplaces of religious assembly\u201d requiring a special use permit.<\/p>\n

Daniel tried to work with the city and began the process of filing for the permit.\u00a0\u00a0The public hearing that followed was marked by overt hostility.\u00a0\u00a0Some neighbors sent letters opposing the permit with statements like \u201cI am not Jewish, and I do not want our neighborhood labeled as Jewish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then came the ultimate Catch-22.\u00a0\u00a0Daniel discovered that obtaining the permit the city had told him to apply for would have barred \u201csleeping or residential use\u201d on any property governed by the permit.\u00a0\u00a0So the only way to legally host a prayer group in his home was to stop living there.\u00a0\u00a0Faced with the untenable choice between praying at home with friends or living at home, and wanting to avoid another hostile public spectacle, Daniel withdrew his permit application.<\/p>

Read more Did Pennsylvania really balance its budget?<\/a><\/p>\n

After Daniel withdrew his application, the city government\u2019s harassment escalated.\u00a0\u00a0The mayor declared publicly that the cease-and-desist order remained in full force.\u00a0\u00a0The mayor turned to the community, urging Daniel\u2019s neighbors to surveil his home and \u201creport\u201d any \u201cactivities consistent with those in a house of assembly.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Police patrols drove past Daniel\u2019s house.\u00a0\u00a0The city prosecutor launched baseless housing code investigations against him.\u00a0\u00a0The city withheld Daniel\u2019s certificate of occupancy and tax abatements, resulting in substantial additional taxes.\u00a0\u00a0City workers even began periodically skipping his home on trash collection days.<\/p>\n

This was a coordinated pattern of harassment and discrimination.\u00a0\u00a0Forcing Daniel to continue the permit process was a punishment.<\/p>\n

In 2022, Daniel filed suit in federal court for violations of his First Amendment rights, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, and other federal and state laws.\u00a0\u00a0But the district court dismissed his case, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit agreed, saying that because Daniel had not fully completed the permit process, a court could not review his case.\u00a0\u00a0Missing the constitutional forest for the procedural trees, these courts never addressed the city\u2019s blatant violations of the First Amendment.<\/p>\n

In February 2026, Daniel petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his case.\u00a0\u00a0He wrote that petition himself, and it garnered the support of nine amicus briefs.\u00a0\u00a0Alliance Defending Freedom then came on as co-counsel, alongside Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, filing a reply brief on Daniel\u2019s behalf, urging the high court to hear his case,\u00a0Grand v. City of University Heights<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0In June, the court agreed.<\/p>\n

If the free exercise clause of the First Amendment means anything, it should mean that no American needs the government\u2019s permission to host a prayer meeting in his home.\u00a0\u00a0The result of the city\u2019s position \u2014 that poker night with ten friends is fine, but praying requires a permit \u2014 would be laughable if the consequences were not so serious.<\/p>\n

If government can restrict religious observance in a man\u2019s home with no accountability, then bureaucratic tentacles have slithered into the sacred space between man and God.\u00a0\u00a0In this nation, founded by pilgrims fleeing religious persecution, nothing could be more antithetical to our way of life than government officials policing private religious practice.<\/p>\n

Though this attack on religious liberty came from a local government, the United States Supreme Court should deliver justice for Daniel on a\u00a0Grand<\/em>\u00a0scale.<\/p>\n

Lathan Watts is the vice president of public affairs for\u00a0Alliance Defending Freedom\u00a0(@ADFLegal) and its sister organization,\u00a0ADF Action.\u00a0\u00a0He earned his juris doctor degree from the University of Mississippi.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

Read more Dr. Fauci takes the Fifth UPDATED<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Image: diluvi.com Anna i Adria via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY\u00a02.0 (cropped).<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The biblical account of\u00a0Daniel in the lions\u2019 den\u00a0is so well known that even those with differing religious beliefs or none are likely familiar with it.\u00a0\u00a0Daniel, a devout Jew exiled in Babylon, was praying in his home, which violated King Darius\u2019s decree.\u00a0\u00a0As punishment, he was cast into a den of lions, but God saved him by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1114,45],"tags":[1569],"class_list":["post-3873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-judaism","category-religion","tag-related-topics-judaism-religious-freedom"],"yoast_head":"\nIn Ohio, poker night is fine, but praying with friends is forbidden - Interstate Logistics Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=3873\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In Ohio, poker night is fine, but praying with friends is forbidden - 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