Illinois Supreme Court upholds ruling granting secession of the Diocese of Quincy from the Episcopal Church

26 Nov 2014
by George Conger

The Illinois Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal made by the Episcopal Church in its lawsuit with the Diocese of Quincy. The decision not to review the Fourth Appellate Court of Appeals decision, published on 26 November 2014, leaves standing the lower court finding that the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church of the USA do not forbid dioceses from withdrawing from the national church.

The ruling came in a twenty-eight page summary of dispositions of petitions before the court. On page twelve the court stated: “No. 118186 - The Diocese of Quincy et al., respondents, v. The Episcopal Church et al., petitioners. Leave to appeal, Appellate Court, Fourth District. (4-13-0901) Petition for leave to appeal denied.”

The national church may appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court or ask the Illinois Supreme Court for reconsideration. However the US Supreme Court has declined to hear related church property cases. The decision upholds the opinion of the Fourth District Court of Appeal which found the Episcopal Church was an unincorporated association of dioceses formed under American common law. Under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution – Freedom of Association – dioceses, as distinct legal entities, have the right to join or leave a group at any time. the rest

A.S. Haley: ECUSA Denied Leave to Appeal in Quincy Case Today the Illinois Supreme Court posted twenty-eight pages of its recent dispositions of requests made by losing parties for leave to appeal their decision to that Court. On page twelve, at the very top, appears this brief notation:

No. 118186
-
The Diocese of Quincy et al., respondents, v. The Episcopal Church et al., petitioners. Leave to appeal, Appellate Court, Fourth District. (4-13-0901)
Petition for leave to appeal denied.

What this means is that the highest court of a State has now ruled that there is no provision in the governing documents of the Episcopal Church (USA) that keeps a Diocese from withdrawing its membership in that organization. The Church in fact is an unincorporated association of dioceses fashioned under American common law, and not under the laws of any one given State. Under the First Amendment, members of such associations are free to leave the group at any time, with only reasonable restrictions placed on their ability to do so (they could be required to pay any back dues still owed, for example). The opinion delivered last April by the Illinois Fourth District Court of Appeal stands as written...