CHAOS IN COLUMBIA

The South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled again on the church case. Find today's Order and Opinion HERE .

This is the THIRD time the SCSC has issued a majority opinion on this case, each one contradicting the one before. This has created a situation of chaos. In my opinion, it is an embarrassment to the court and the state; it is damaging to the judicial system and the rule of law in South Carolina.

In 2013, the new breakaway diocese and 36 parishes brought suit against the Episcopal Church claiming possession of the pre-schism diocese and properties of the 36 parishes. On August 2, 2017, the SC Supreme Court ruled by majority opinion that 29 of the 36 had adhered to the Dennis Canon and were property of the Episcopal Church along with the old diocesan properties. 

The SCSC remitted their decision to the circuit court for implementation. The circuit judge chose to recognize only one majority opinion---the 7 parishes that were found to own the properties. He rejected the rest and replaced it with his own order finding all in favor of the breakaway diocese.

The Episcopal side appealed the circuit court's order back to the SCSC. The SCSC issued a second majority opinion on April 20, 2022, discarding the majority opinion of 2017 and declaring that 14 of the original 36 were property of the Episcopal Church. This moved 15 parishes that had been awarded to the Church in 2017 to the breakaway side. Two of the justices, who had been on the court in 2017, changed their opinions.

On today, the SCSC declared that the court was wrong on August 2, 2017, and on April 20, 2022, and that 6 more parishes would have to move from the Church to the breakaway side. This was after the SCSC had ruled TWICE that these very 6 were property of the Episcopal Church. This meant that 28 of the original 36 parishes in the suit would own the local properties, virtually a reversal of the 2017 order that 29 of the parishes belonged to the Episcopal Church. 

According to today's decision these 8, of the 36, now belong to TEC:

---Holy Trinity, Charleston

---St. Bartholomew's, Hartsville

---St. David's, Cheraw

---St. James, James Island

---St. John's, Johns Island

---St. Matthew's, Ft. Motte

---Good Shepherd, Charleston

---Christ Church, Mt. Pleasant

What happens next with this chaotic court is anyone's guess. I stopped trying to figure them out some time ago. It seems to me they do not operate under discernible logic or reason and their judgments are only subjective. Moreover, established law appears to be irrelevant to them. Is this the end, or will they issue yet another contradictory fourth opinion? Will the 8 appeal, and win on appeal so that TEC winds up with 0 parishes? Will the Church side appeal to the SCSC? Will the Church side appeal to SCOTUS? I suppose we have no choice but to wait and see whatever happens next in this wild roller coaster ride of a decade. 

It seems to me the SCSC's inconsistent handling of this case has done and is doing real damage to the judicial system and rule of law in South Carolina. They have shown that no majority decision of the state's highest court is final. Circuit courts can discard and replace SCSC decisions. A Remittitur order is only a suggestion to the circuit court which can ignore it at will. Since no majority decision of the SCSC is final, people can litigate the same case and/or issues until the cows come home. There will be no finality in court or the law. It took three times for the breakaways to get the bulk of the local parishes but they eventually did so, chipping away at the Church's gains each time. In the future, if anyone dislikes a majority decision, they can keep on litigating until they get the desired outcome. This is the dangerous precedent the SCSC has set in this case. I can only wonder if the justices understand what they have done.

Why did the SCSC do this? Why have they issued three different majority decisions? I wish I knew the answer to that. We do have to keep in mind that all state judges and justices in South Carolina are elected for terms by the state legislature. This makes every judge in a some way political. They cannot get away from it. Under such a system, how could any judge be truly independent and impartial?

Remember that the church case is still active in the federal court. The U.S. District Court in Charleston ruled that the Episcopal diocese was the one and only heir of the historic diocese. The judge even issued an Injunction forbidding the new diocese from claiming in any way to be the pre-schism diocese. This decision is on appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals, in Richmond VA. If and when the SCSC ever finishes the church case, the federal appeals court will rule. Odds are that the appeals judges will uphold the decision of the district court. This would mean the Episcopal Diocese would own all of the legal rights of the pre-schism diocese. The outstanding consistence of the SCSC is its insistence that the Episcopal diocese is the heir of the properties of the historic diocese. This they reaffirmed every time in their opinions. Why they could do that and not the same on the local properties is a good question.

Another pending problem that has not been addressed in the court is the fate of the dozen or so parishes that went along with the breakaways but did not join the law suit. They were not among the 36. One can only wonder if the Episcopal lawyers will go to court to recover these. To my knowledge, the church lawyers have not publicly said what they intend for these parishes. Since they were not in the lawsuit, the court has not ruled on whether they own the local properties.

In my view, the SCSC has made a mess of the church case. Instead of well-reasoned clarity and finality, the people of South Carolina got chaos.