Will the Supreme Court Find Room at the Grotto?
20th October 2026
On Oct. 1, 2026, the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to hear Missionaries of Saint John the Baptist, Inc. v. Frederic and answer an important question: Does a regulation prohibiting a church from building a religious structure on its own property violate the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act?
The answer is yes, and the court should say so without conditions.
RLUIPA, enacted in 2000, addresses a significant threat to the First Amendment’s protection of our free exercise of religion. Zoning codes and discretionary permitting processes could be read to exclude or disfavor houses of worship, particularly smaller or less familiar ones. So, the statute’s Substantial Burden Provision bars any government from implementing a land-use regulation in a way that substantially burdens religious exercise unless the government proves the burden is the least restrictive means of furthering a compelling government interest.
Oh, the Karens will find some way around that, just as they did around the strictures on institutional racism in college admissions.