STATUS CONFERENCE TODAY
(with update)
(with update)
UPDATE. July 26, 5:00 p.m. EDT.
The Episcopal Church in South Carolina has just issued a press release about the status conference. Find it here . The only significant decision of the day was the request of Judge Dickson to the two sets of lawyers that they submit to him a list of the issues they think he needs to address in carrying out the South Carolina Supreme Court decision of August 2, 2017. The lawyers said they would submit the lists in a week.
The TECSC press release was an eyewitness report. For another first hand account see scepiscopalians .
From these reports, it seems to me that Dickson was resolved to enact the SCSC decision and to do so expeditiously. There was no discussion about returning to the issues of the decision itself. My understanding of today is that the judge intends to enforce the decision, that is, to return to TEC the 29 parishes and Camp, and to wrap up all of the various petitions involved as soon as possible. Thus, DSC's public propaganda that the SCSC decision cannot be enforced and even if it could be they would keep throwing up road blocks in state court to delay the implementation indefinitely has no substance. The game is up, at least in the state court.
We may now discard any suggestion that DSC will re-litigate the case and somehow keep the 29 parishes. The 29 are absolutely going to be returned to the Episcopal Church, and in the not too distant future. This is the great takeaway from the status conference.
I know many of us are disappointed at the glacial speed of justice. I am. However, we need to keep the big picture here. The wheels of justice are turning however slowly (for five and a half years!). Nevertheless, they are moving and the end is in sight on the horizon.
It will be most interesting to see how Bishop Lawrence addresses all of this in his whirlwind tour of the next few days. He was present in the courtroom. He knows the truth of the litigation. Will he accept reality, or will he continue to spin a fantasy view of the future on his swan song performances? We shall see.
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Today, Thursday, July 26, Judge Edgar Dickson, of the circuit court, will hold a "status conference" with the lawyers of the Diocese of South Carolina on one side and the Episcopal Church in South Carolina on the other. It is scheduled to be in the courthouse of Orangeburg at 3:00 p.m. EDT.
The Episcopal Church in South Carolina has just issued a press release about the status conference. Find it here . The only significant decision of the day was the request of Judge Dickson to the two sets of lawyers that they submit to him a list of the issues they think he needs to address in carrying out the South Carolina Supreme Court decision of August 2, 2017. The lawyers said they would submit the lists in a week.
The TECSC press release was an eyewitness report. For another first hand account see scepiscopalians .
From these reports, it seems to me that Dickson was resolved to enact the SCSC decision and to do so expeditiously. There was no discussion about returning to the issues of the decision itself. My understanding of today is that the judge intends to enforce the decision, that is, to return to TEC the 29 parishes and Camp, and to wrap up all of the various petitions involved as soon as possible. Thus, DSC's public propaganda that the SCSC decision cannot be enforced and even if it could be they would keep throwing up road blocks in state court to delay the implementation indefinitely has no substance. The game is up, at least in the state court.
We may now discard any suggestion that DSC will re-litigate the case and somehow keep the 29 parishes. The 29 are absolutely going to be returned to the Episcopal Church, and in the not too distant future. This is the great takeaway from the status conference.
I know many of us are disappointed at the glacial speed of justice. I am. However, we need to keep the big picture here. The wheels of justice are turning however slowly (for five and a half years!). Nevertheless, they are moving and the end is in sight on the horizon.
It will be most interesting to see how Bishop Lawrence addresses all of this in his whirlwind tour of the next few days. He was present in the courtroom. He knows the truth of the litigation. Will he accept reality, or will he continue to spin a fantasy view of the future on his swan song performances? We shall see.
______________________________________
Today, Thursday, July 26, Judge Edgar Dickson, of the circuit court, will hold a "status conference" with the lawyers of the Diocese of South Carolina on one side and the Episcopal Church in South Carolina on the other. It is scheduled to be in the courthouse of Orangeburg at 3:00 p.m. EDT.
Dickson has five petitions before him, two from DSC and three from TECSC. Presumably he will discuss a general organization for proceeding with these and reach a common agreement on a time frame. The direction of this is up to the judge.
The petitions from the two sides are strikingly different. DSC is asking Dickson for a jury trial on its "Betterments Statute" claim demanding money from TEC for "improvements" made on the properties they illegally occupied. On the other hand, TECSC is asking for the judge to enforce the South Carolina Supreme Court decision of August 2, 2017, which recognized TECSC control over 29 parishes and Camp St. Christopher. TECSC is asking Dickson to appoint a Special Master to oversee the restoration of the properties, and an accounting firm to survey and report the assets held by DSC since Jan. 1, 2008. We do not know which ones of the five petitions Dickson will address today. I expect he will address all five. It is interesting to note that DSC has not filed court papers responding to TECSC's petitions for Special Master and the accounting firm. I assume we will see responses soon.
I will not attend the status conference today but will relay reports from some who do attend as soon as I can. Watch the spaces of the TECSC website and scepiscopalians.com for firsthand reports this evening.
After the conference, we should have a clearer idea of how much longer we can expect the circuit court actions to last. However, one should recall that this is not all the litigation going on. The federal case is awaiting disposition; and we can expect U.S. District Court Judge Richard Gergel to expedite this soon. He is a non-nonsense judge well-known for his prompt and judicious court actions.
