FEDERAL APPEALS COURT GRANTS MOTION
TO STAY CASE
On October 27, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, in Richmond VA, issued an Order granting the Anglican Diocese of South Carolina's motion for a stay of their appeal to the Court pending a decision of the South Carolina Supreme Court. The Order said:
Upon consideration of submissions relative to appellants' motion to stay case, which the court construes as a motion for abeyance, the court grants the motion and places this case in abeyance pending a decision by the South Carolina Supreme Court...
This means that the Appeals Court will suspend action on the ADSC's appeal of Judge Gergel's order of September 19, 2019, until the SCSC rules on the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina's appeal of Judge Dickson's order of June 19, 2020. The U.S. Appeals Court had scheduled a hearing on the church case for early December. Apparently, there will be no hearing until the SCSC rules, whenever that may be.
It is important to note that this order does nothing to change Gergel's decision itself. It is in effect. The ADSC asked both Gergel and the Court of Appeals for a stay of Gergel's Sept. 19, 2019 order but both denied the petitions. Thus, Gergel's order remains in force. In fact, he has backed up his Injunction against the ADSC twice. Gergel's order will remain in effect unless and until it is overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals.
I found it curious that the Appeals Court order of Oct. 27 was not signed by a judge. It was signed only by one person, the Clerk of the Court. I have no idea what this means. Perhaps it is standard procedure, but I found it strange that no judge signed it.
As everyone knows, I am not a lawyer or legal expert, but this appeals court order makes no sense to me. The federal court dealt with ownership of the diocese, specifically in who owned the "marks" (trademark names, symbols, emblems etc.). Judge Gergel found they belonged entirely to the Episcopal Diocese of SC. The state court dealt with ownership of the local properties. The state supreme court left the issue of the marks to the federal court. The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled on Aug. 2, 2017 that the Episcopal Church owned the bulk of the local properties. Upon Remittitur, the circuit court judge reversed this and declared that the Episcopal Church had no interest in the local properties. It is the circuit judge's decision that the Episcopal side is now appealing to the SCSC. Thus, I see no reason why the federal court should wait for a decision of the SCSC. Perhaps a lawyer who knows more about all of this could shed some light on this strange turn of events from the federal appeals court.
