NOTES, 13 JUNE 2022
Welcome, blog reader, on Monday, the 13th of June. Last week was a busy one for the litigation of the schism. The South Carolina Supreme Court took two important actions. Let's recap a bit of what happened.
The first action concerned the petitions of the eight parishes asking the SCSC to hold a rehearing on their April 20, 2022 decision. These eight were among the fourteen that the court had found to be property of the Episcopal Church under their accessions to the Dennis Canon.
Among the eight, the court denied entirely the petition of Christ Church, Mount Pleasant. The justices also denied parts of cases of three other parishes (Old St. Andrew's; St. Luke's, of Hilton Head; and Trinity, of Myrtle Beach). They left open all of the petitions of four of the local churches (Holy Cross, Stateburg; Good Shepherd, Charleston; Holy Comforter, Sumter; and St. Jude's, Walterboro). In spite of the skewed interpretations of the Anglican side, the SCSC did not grant anything to the eight petitioners. It did not agree to a rehearing. It did not agree to "reconsider" their cases. It did not "move forward" anything. The only action the SCSC took, outside of outright or partial denial of the motions for rehearing, was to direct the Episcopal attorneys to file a "Return" by 20 June 2022. A Return would be a response, or counter-argument, to the seven still active whole or partial petitions for rehearing before the court.
The second action the SCSC took was to issue a Remittitur to the circuit court directing the disposition of the properties in question. Christ Church, of Mt. Pleasant, was included along with the other six to be returned to TEC, the six of the fourteen to be returned that had not contested the Apr. 20 decision. The Remit also listed the fifteen parishes that the court found to own their properties. The only properties that were not in this Remit were the seven parishes still holding open petitions for rehearing before the court.
The Anglican side made a great deal about what the SCSC did last week as if it were a significant advancement for their side. Not so. It was a formality, and one that the court had followed the last time around in 2017. Then, the SCSC issued its opinion on August 2, and the Anglican side filed for rehearing on September 1. On September 7, the SCSC asked the Episcopal side to file a Return, or counter-argument. It did on September 18. Two months later, on November 17, the SCSC issued a denial of rehearing and sent a Remittitur to the circuit court to implement the August 2 decision. Note there was a two month gap between the time the Episcopal lawyers filed their Return and the SCSC published its decision on rehearing. If the court takes two months this time, they would be responding in mid-August.
As I said in a recent blog piece, the SC Supreme Court has been so inconsistent in the last seven years, it is best that we not venture to predict what they will do now. They seem completely free to ignore, even contradict and supersede, earlier decisions and rulings. Although the SCSC has denied parts of the petitions for rehearing, they have not denied all of them even though the justices demanded emphatically in their April 20 opinion that the case was closed as of that moment and there could be no remand.
Now, we can do nothing but wait for the Episcopal attorneys to file their Return by Monday, June 20. After that, there will be another period of waiting for the SCSC to rule on the seven open petitions for rehearing. It seems we have spent most of our time in the last decade waiting.
Meanwhile, the circuit court judge, Edgar Dickson, has the Remittitur on his desk that gives him explicit instructions on the dispositions of the properties. One must remember, however, he is under no time constraint, so he could presumably drag this out as long as he likes. The last time he fiddled with the case for two and a half years. Moreover, as we have learned by experience, the Anglican lawyers are clever at deny and delay.
So, in the big picture, there does seem to be a framework of a settlement on the far horizon. However, the Episcopal side could be in for a lot of frustration and disappointment if people expect this to come soon or to be easy. We have learned better in these ten long, hard years of this bitter legal war.
As we wait for the next milepost on the rocky road of the litigation, let us take a break and stroll around my garden. Even though the calendar says we are still in spring, my garden is in its summer mode. I have not shown much of my garden lately as we have had more important issues to discuss. Now, we need a break.
My favorite place to sit is on the brow of a slight slope where I can see most of the garden. It is shady and cool in the morning. Camellias are on the left, hydrangeas on the right, and plenty of weeds everywhere (I pull and spray, then ignore the rest).
A relatively warm winter and wet spring have spurred the banana trees into robust growth. This is a tropical collection near a seating area. The large banana tree here is already fifteen feet high and will get much taller before the end of the growing season.
Among the several kinds of hydrangeas in the garden, Nikko Blue stands out at this time of the year. It is the most common form of hydrangea in the south, for good reason.
Every southern garden should have gardenia, for the sweet scent if nothing else. I have several kinds. This is Gardenia Radicans, or Dwarf Gardenia. It grows only a couple of feet tall as it spreads out. I have a series of these filling in between holly bushes along a walkway. The most common form of gardenia is August Beauty which can grow into a large shrub. All of the gardenias are in full bloom now.
