No, they are not going to hear further arguments on the ownership of the Falls Church. So the decision that the church property of The Falls Church belongs to the Diocese of Virginia stands. Read the Lead's report of the matter HERE.
It is unclear just what this means for other cases, but it at least means that in this case the principle holds, "you can leave when you wish, of course, but leave the sliver."
Its time to move on.
3/10/2014
1 comment:
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I don't think the Supreme Court's decision has any real significance outside the litigation between The Falls Church and the Diocese of Virginia. The same Court that refused to review the Virginia Supreme Court's decision in this case also declined to review the Louisiana Court of Appeals' ruling allowing Carrolton Presbyterian Church in New Orleans to withdraw from the PCUSA (and take the silver with them,as you put it).
ReplyDeleteIf anything, the lesson is that the U.S. Supreme Court sees church property issues (like all other property issues) as a matter of state law to be decided by state courts, so it will review a state supreme court decision only if it finds it to be a serious violation of the U.S. Constitution. The last time this happened was in 19877.