EPISCOPAL LAWYERS FILE MOTION FOR PARTIAL REMITTITUR
The lawyers for the Episcopal side (the Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina) filed a motion with the South Carolina Supreme Court on 27 May 2022 for partial Remittitur (find the Motion on the SCcourts website). That is, the Church side asked the state supreme court to issue a directive to the circuit court. It is for the transfer of the six parishes, among the fourteen to be returned to TEC, that did not file petitions with the SCSC for rehearing. Since the 20 April 2022 judgment is final and these six have not contested it, the Church side wants an expeditious transfer of the six properties. They are:
---Holy Trinity, Charleston
---St. Bartholomew's, Hartsville
---St. David's, Cheraw
---St. James, James Island, Charleston
---St. John's, Johns Island, Charleston
---St. Matthew's, Ft. Motte
The TEC motion does not apply to the eight parishes that have asked for rehearing. Since they asked the SCSC for action, the SCSC will have to respond directly to these eight. There is no indication of when this would occur.
The lawyers say a partial Remittitur is necessary so that the circuit court can act and the six can transfer titles to the Episcopal side. No legal actions concerning these six parishes can be taken until the deeds are moved. In other words, the Episcopal Church cannot reclaim these six until the court orders it.
We know that one parish is awaiting an action of the SCSC, St. John's, of Johns Island. They plan to hand over St. John's buildings by July 4 but will not do so if the court has not directed the transfer. We also know that St. James, on James Island, is moving toward transferring St. James' property. It too needs an action of the court first.
The point of the 27 May motion is to move along the actual restoration of the parishes that the SCSC has awarded to TEC.
Since this is a formal motion to the SCSC, the court will have to issue a formal response. I will relay it here as soon as possible.
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NOTE. I cannot link to the Motion. Your can find it at sccourts.org/ACMS/ >Accept >Appellate Case. No. 2020-000986 >Search >(scroll down to:) Event Information >05/27/2022 Motion Partial Remittitur
