Because these types of denominational disputes are likely to continue, courts will be faced with the difficult task of navigating between exercising their rightful jurisdiction and avoiding interference with matters of church doctrine.
The North Carolina Supreme Court has chosen to review this case, and the plaintiffs hope that this will finally bring about a just outcome and prevent this from ever happening again.
Forty years ago, the late Lutheran-turned-Catholic priest Fr. Richard John Neuhaus published “The Naked Public Square,” a pivotal work in which he described the rise of secularism in the United States. For much of the time after this book’s publication, a “naked public square” was legally enforced by courts applying the “Lemon Test,” based on...
The first sentence of the US Constitution’s First Amendment provides that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion[.]” This is known as the “Establishment Clause,” and to say it has long generated controversy is an understatement. The Establishment Clause has been interpreted so that states, and all other governmental entities (not merely...
Private religious schools and potentially other non-profits throughout the country could soon feel the ripple effects of an appeal to be argued Jan. 25 at the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Virginia. The Court of Appeals, which covers North Carolina and four other states, will consider whether a private school...