Bishop Seabury case appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court

Court asked to decide whether the Dennis Canon violates the 1st Amendment
March 24, 2012
By George Conger

Bishop Seabury Church in Groton, Conn., has filed a writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court asking for a review of the Connecticut Supreme Court that upheld the Episcopal Church’s Dennis Canon.

Last week lawyers for the former Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut congregation, which now is part of the Anglican Church in North America, filed a 44 page petition with the court asking for review. Only a fraction of the cases appealed to the Supreme Court are reviewed, however there is a likelihood the case may be heard as it covers legal issues addressed in two petitions filed in response to rulings by the Georgia Supreme Court: the case of Christ Church v. the Diocese of Georgia and the case of Timberridge Presbyterian Church v. Presbytery of Greater Atlanta.

The question presented in the Bishop Seabury case to the Supreme Court is:

“Whether the First Amendment, as interpreted by this Court in Jones v. Wolf, 443 U.S. 595 (1979), requires state civil courts to enforce an alleged trust imposed on local church property by provisions in denominational documents, regardless of whether those provisions would be legally cognizable under general-ly applicable rules of state property and trust law. Groton — Bishop Seabury Church has asked the United States Supreme Court to review a lower court ruling that says the church and all its property must be turned over to the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut.” the rest