The Supreme Court Church Property and Disaffiliation Cases –The Constitutional Dimension

76 Pages Posted: 24 Jul 2011 Last revised: 15 Nov 2012

See all articles by Michael Watson

Michael Watson

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Date Written: November 14, 2012

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to take a fresh look at the Supreme Court cases that bear on church property disputes, both those involving property ownership directly and those involving the right of a congregation or a larger geographically defined body such as a diocese to disaffiliate from a denominational body. The paper advances the argument that the commonly held view under which First Amendment principles leave courts with a choice, in cases involving hierarchical churches, either to apply neutral principles of law or instead to defer to the highest church authority is based on misreading of prior cases and is oversimplified to the point of being erroneous. Neutral principles of law are the hallmark of First Amendment jurisprudence applicable to these disputes, and should be applied to the exclusion of other approaches.

The paper also discusses the relevance of the freedom of association, particularly in the context of the right to disaffiliate from a denomination. The importance to neutral principles analysis of distinguishing an organization’s internal affairs from relationships not internal to it is emphasized, as is the importance of respecting the separate identities of separately constituted organizations. Finally, the implications of two cases not involving church property, Employment Division v. Smith and Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, are considered.

Suggested Citation

Watson, Michael, The Supreme Court Church Property and Disaffiliation Cases –The Constitutional Dimension (November 14, 2012). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1893884 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1893884

Michael Watson (Contact Author)

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
98
Abstract Views
642
Rank
485,733
PlumX Metrics