Judge lets ousted priest sue in test of First Amendment
The Episcopal bishop had denied the Montco cleric a church trial.
By David O'Reilly
Inquirer Staff Writer

Clearing the way for a landmark test of the First Amendment, a Montgomery County Court judge has allowed an Episcopal priest to sue his bishop for removing him from priesthood.

In a decision released yesterday, Judge Thomas Branca rejected Bishop Charles E. Bennison Jr.'s argument that the Rev. David Moyer had no right to settle their differences with a civil trial.

Bennison's lawyers had argued in four appearances before Branca that the First Amendment barred civil courts from deciding cases involving religious personnel disputes.

But Moyer's lawyers replied that the priest had no other remedy because Bennison denied him due process by removing him without a church trial, as church law requires. the rest