⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The Second Circuit hears a zoning dispute between a religious school and the Town of Highland in New York. The school wanted to use its property for religious education during the summer. The town's zoning code allows places of worship with a special-use permit, but its zoning board concluded that the school's proposal did not qualify. The school brought religious-liberty claims in federal court without first applying for a use variance, permission to depart from the zoning restrictions. The district court dismissed the suit as unripe: too early for federal review because the school had not sought that variance. The school's lawyer will argue that the board's interpretation was already final, and that seeking a variance would give up the legal status the school says the zoning code already allows. The town's lawyer will argue that the school must first seek a variance so the town can make a final decision about how the property may be used. The appeal concerns that threshold, not whether the town actually discriminated.

Yeshiva Ohr Shraga Veretzky v. Town of Highland Zoning Board of Appeals (No. 26-638) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, argued October 30, 2026.