Two very different disputes, one over a preschool program and one over prayer in a family home, are putting religious freedom back before the nation’s highest court.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, hears arguments in a Catholic preschool’s challenge to Colorado’s universal preschool program, and next month it will take up an Orthodox Jewish man’s fight to hold prayer gatherings in his Ohio home. Both cases could reshape religious liberty in America.
What is the Catholic preschool religious liberty case about?
In St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, two Catholic parishes in the Archdiocese of Denver say Colorado shut their preschools out of its free universal preschool program because of their religious beliefs, which they say violates their religious liberty.
The program requires participating schools to admit children regardless of factors including the sexual orientation or gender identity of a child’s family. The parishes say following their faith means they cannot agree to those terms.
A federal appeals court sided with Colorado, ruling that the requirements are neutral and apply equally to every preschool, so they do not violate the First Amendment under a 1990 Supreme Court precedent. The parishes argue the state grants other exemptions, which they say shows bias against religious schools.
LGBTQ advocacy groups counter that no child should be turned away from a publicly funded program because of who their parents are. The case has drawn about 75 amicus briefs, and a decision is expected by summer 2027.
What is the Jewish prayer case about?
In Grand v. City of University Heights, Daniel Grand, an Orthodox Jew in a Cleveland suburb, invited about a dozen friends to his home in 2021 to form a minyan, the group of at least 10 men required for communal prayer in Jewish law.
The city issued an order calling the gathering an illegal place of religious assembly under its zoning rules and required him to seek a permit. Grand says the permit process was hostile to his religious liberty, and his lawyers say neighbors monitored his home.
Lower courts dismissed his lawsuit as premature, ruling that he first had to finish the city’s permit process. Grand wrote his own petition to the Supreme Court, which agreed in June to hear the case. Arguments are set for Dec. 9.
What will the court decide in the Grand case?
The justices will not directly rule on whether the city’s zoning code violated federal law. Instead, they will decide whether people who say a local government burdened their religious liberty must exhaust local permit processes before going to court.
Supporters say the case could affect home Bible studies, prayer groups and other gatherings nationwide. The city argues Grand is asking the Supreme Court to act as a local planning commission.
It is the first case involving the land use provisions of a 2000 federal religious freedom law to reach the high court.
Why does religious liberty keep returning to the Supreme Court?
Over the past decade, the court has issued several rulings expanding the rights of religious groups, including decisions allowing religious schools to take part in public funding programs.
Those decisions have raised new questions about how to balance religious liberty with civil rights protections, especially when public money is involved.
Advocates on both sides say the Colorado case could set a national standard for whether states can attach nondiscrimination rules to programs that include religious schools.
What happens next?
The court hears the preschool case Tuesday and the prayer case in December, with rulings in both expected by the end of the term next summer.
Together, the cases show how questions of religious liberty reach into everyday life, from where children learn to where families pray.
