Thursday, February 15, 2018

Cert. Filed In Episcopal Church Property Dispute

A petition for certiorari (full text) was filed last week with the U.S. Supreme Court in Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of South Carolina v. The Episcopal Church, (cert. filed 2/9/2018).  In the case, the 5-member South Carolina Supreme Court in 5 separate opinions spanning 77 pages resolved a property dispute that arose after a split in the Episcopal Church in South Carolina. (See prior posting.)  The question presented in the cert petition is:
Whether the "neutral principles of law" approach to resolving church property disputes requires court to recognize a trust on church property even if the alleged trust does not comply with the State's ordinary trust and property law.
Anglican Curmudgeon blog discusses the cert. petition at length. [Thanks to Don Nichol for the lead.]