U.S. Catholic bishops join Southern Baptists in urging Supreme Court to block ‘finality’ rule

The U.S. Supreme Court should reject the broad application of a long-standing administrative rule that can prevent religious liberty lawsuits from progressing through the courts, U.S. bishops argued this week.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops joined with the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission in filing an amicus brief in support of Daniel Grand, who is petitioning the high court to rule in his favor in a legal dispute with the city of University Heights, Ohio.

Grand filed a lawsuit against the city in September 2022 after the city blocked his efforts to convene a minyan, or Jewish prayer group, of about a dozen friends at his home.

A federal district court dismissed his case on the grounds of a legal concept known as “finality ,” a legal principle requiring property owners to obtain a land-use decision from local officials before bringing certain federal court challenges. A federal appeals court also ruled against Grand in the dispute.

In June the Supreme Court said it would consider the finality question . Grand is being represented by the legal group Alliance Defending Freedom.

In their filing, the U.S. bishops and the…