Unsure whether a current instance is responsive, but here it is, from
the Feb. 2007 issue of Episcopal Life, p. 20: The Executive Board of
the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia on Jan. 18 authorized Bishop Peter Lee
to 'take such steps as may be necessary to recover or secure such real
and personal property' of 11 congregations where a majority of the
members and leaders have left the Episcopal Church. There have been
no immediate actions.
Daniel G. Gibbens
Regents' Professor of Law Emeritus
University of Oklahoma
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Douglas Laycock
Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2007 7:43 PM
To: religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu
Subject: Re: Question from a reporter
This is very helpful. Of course, this is only reported cases A more
complete data set for the years it covers is the Religious Freedom
Reporter, which runs from 1981 I think to the late 90s (or maybe the
very early 2000s). Finding a library with a complete set can sometimes
be a challenge. They had a network of lawyers sending them cases they
knew about, so they pick up a fair number of trial court cases that
never got reported. Still not a complete population I'm sure.
Quoting Hassler, Jeffrey (student) [EMAIL PROTECTED]:
I'm just a law student, but I've been working on a student comment on
civil court resolution of church property disputes, and there are at
least some figures out there about church property cases in courts.
I've pasted below a paragraph from my article discussing some informal
research on the subject done by Prof. Greenawalt:
Jeff
Church property disputes will never be the bread and butter of the
civil
courts, but that doesn't mean controversies don't arise on a regular
basis. In 1998, Professor Greenawalt noted that courts have heard an
average of about 119 church property cases each decade since 1948.[1]
outbind://105/#_ftn1
https://web.mail.umich.edu/horde/services/go.php?url=outbind%3A%2F%2F10
5%2F%23_ftn1The numbers reflect slight increases during
periods of particular doctrinal disputation. In the decade since
Professor Greenawalt's tabulation, there were approximately 91 church
property cases heard in the U.S.;[2] outbind://105/#_ftn2
https://web.mail.umich.edu/horde/services/go.php?url=outbind%3A%2F%2F10
5%2F%23_ftn2 this figure
is consistent with earlier trends and the pattern indicates the
possibility that the number is rising again, perhaps in response to
the
increase in intradenominational strife described above.
[1] outbind://105/#_ftnref1
https://web.mail.umich.edu/horde/services/go.php?url=outbind%3A%2F%2F10
5%2F%23_ftnref1 Kent Greenawalt, Hands Off! Civil Court
Involvement in Conflicts over Religious Property, 98 Colum. L. Rev.
1843, 1844 n.1. (1998). Professor Greenawalt's findings are as
follows:
The following data show the approximate number of reported cases in
both
federal and state courts over a period of fifty years (amassed through
a
Westlaw search). The numbers reflect each time a different court had
to
address the issue of church property; thus, appeals are counted
separately. From 1948 to 1957, there were approximately 166 cases;
from
1958-1967, roughly 109; from 1968-1977, 115 cases; from 1978-1987, 123
cases; from 1988-1997, 81. (This search was done in Oct. 1998, in the
Allcases database).
Id.
[2] outbind://105/#_ftnref2
https://web.mail.umich.edu/horde/services/go.php?url=outbind%3A%2F%2F10
5%2F%23_ftnref2 This search was conducted in January
2007, using the criteria discussed in the previous note. It reflects
only nine years rather than a full decade, and thus will almost
certainly under-represent the actual figure for the ten years
following
Professor Greenawalt's search.
---
___
Jeff Hassler
Pepperdine School of Law
24255 Pacific Coast Hwy #0028
Malibu, CA 90263-0028
310.506.3920
-Original Message-
From: Volokh, Eugene [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Feb 7, 2007 6:27 PM
Subject: Question from a reporter
To: Law Religion issues for Law Academics
religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu mailto:religionlaw@lists.ucla.edu
A reporter asked me: Is it my imagination, or are
denominations and
members increasingly turning to the courts to settle disputes.
[I've
seen] current disputes within the Catholic, Episcopal,
Missouri
Lutheran faiths -- and there are doubtless more that I don't
know about.
There are issues of personnel and property. Does anyone
track
such a
thing, or has the issue been studied? I didn't have an
answer,
but
offered to ask on-list. Any thoughts on this? Thanks,
Eugene
___
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