SOUTH CAROLINA SUPREME COURT
DENIES REHEARING

On Friday, November 17, the South Carolina Supreme Court issued a decision on the DSC's three petitions for rehearing. It then informed, by mail, the independent Diocese of South Carolina that it had dienied DSC's petitions. DSC received the news yesterday, Nov. 18 and posted this on their website. Find the ruling here .

As it turned out, Justice Kaye Hearn did not participate in the decision. This left four justices. Two voted for rehearing (Kittredge and Toal) and two rejected (Beatty and Pleicones). The failure to gain a majority meant the failure of the petitions. This leaves the August 2 decision final:

The petitions for rehearing have been denied, and the opinions previously filed in this case reflect the final decision of the Court.

The decision was dated November 17, 2017, and was signed by all four justices. 

DSC posted a response to the denial. Find it here .

DSC said it would seriously consider appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court.

It is extremely unlikely that SCOTUS will take the case. They take only 1% of cases requested. Too, this is a case based on state property and corporate law. SCOTUS only considers issues related to the U.S. Constitution.

The mediation is to resume on December 4. At least the lawyers on both sides have a definitive order from the state supreme court from which to work. The order leaves TECSC with 29 of the parishes in question and Camp St. Christopher, DSC with 6. Friday's decision throws the enormous weight of the matter over to the Episcopal Church side. 

I will return with more thoughts soon (interestingly enough, I am off this moment to give a talk at my local church on the schism in TEC).