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Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the Supreme Court of Virginia ______

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Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the Supreme Court of Virginia ______ No. __-____ In the Supreme Court of the United States __________ THE FALLS CHURCH, PETITIONER v. THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN THE DIOCESE OF VIRGINIA, ET AL., RESPONDENTS __________ ON PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF VIRGINIA __________ PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI __________ SCOTT J. WARD STEFFEN N. JOHNSON TIMOTHY R. OBITTS Counsel of Record Gammon & Grange, P.C. GENE C. SCHAERR 8280 Greensboro Drive GORDON A. COFFEE McLean, VA 22102 ANDREW C. NICHOLS (703) 761-5100 Winston & Strawn LLP 1700 K Street, NW JAMES A. JOHNSON Washington, DC 20006 PAUL N. FARQUHARSON (202) 282-5000 Semmes, Bowen & [email protected] Semmes, P.C. 25 South Charles Street Baltimore, MD 21201 (410) 539-5040 Counsel for Petitioners QUESTIONS PRESENTED I. Whether the First Amendment permits civil courts to retroactively impose a “trust” on church property based on church canons that were never embodied in any secular instrument of property own- ership and did not comply with state law at the time of their adoption. II. Whether the Contracts Clause permits civil courts resolving church property disputes to apply changes to state statutory law retroactively. ii PARTIES TO THE PROCEEDING AND RULE 29.6 STATEMENT Petitioner is The Falls Church (also known as The Church at the Falls–The Falls Church), a Virginia nonstock corporation with no parent corporation. Respondents are The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (also known as The Episcopal Church), an unincorporated New York vol- untary association with no parent corporation or stock; The Protestant Episcopal Church in the Dio- cese of Virginia, an unincorporated Virginia volun- tary association with no parent corporation or stock; and William W. Goodrich and Steven Skancke, in their capacity as trustees for The Falls Church. Amici curiae below included the Commonwealth of Virginia; The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty; 516 Donors to The Falls Church; A.E. Dick Howard; Gen- eral Council on Finance and Administration of the United Methodist Church; Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia; Episcopal Diocese of Southwest- ern Virginia; the Rt. Rev. Yung Chin Cho (Bishop, Virginia Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church); Steven D. Brown, Richmond (Chancellor, Virginia Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church); Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of the Gen- eral Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) (“PCUSA”); Abingdon Presbytery of the PCUSA; El- der Donald F. Bickhart (Stated Clerk, Presbytery of Eastern Virginia, PCUSA); the Rev. Dr. G. Wilson Gunn, Jr. (General Presbyter, National Captial Pres- bytery, PCUSA); Virginia Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America; Metropolitan Washing- ton, D.C. Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page QUESTIONS PRESENTED ......................................... i PARTIES TO THE PROCEEDING AND RULE 29.6 STATEMENT .................................. ii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ...................................... vii GLOSSARY ................................................................ xii INTRODUCTION ........................................................ 1 OPINIONS BELOW .................................................... 4 JURISDICTION........................................................... 4 CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS INVOLVED ...... 5 STATEMENT ............................................................... 5 A. The Falls Church and its real property ........... 5 B. The Falls Church’s autonomy in governance and financial independence .......... 7 C. TEC, the Diocese, and their canons ................. 8 D. Virginia’s longstanding prohibition on denominational trusts ..................................... 10 E. Proceedings below ........................................... 11 1. Proceedings under Va. Code §57-9 ............ 11 2. Proceedings under Va. Code §§ 57-15 and 57-7.1 ................................................... 12 REASONS FOR GRANTING THE PETITION ........ 16 I. Review is needed to determine the legal effect, under the First Amendment, of denominational “trust” provisions that conflict with secular indicia of intent and ordinary state trust law. ..................................................... 18 iv A. Eight state supreme courts and one federal circuit hold that neutral- principles analysis requires determining whether the asserted “trust” is consistent with ordinary evidence of intent and embodied in valid secular legal form.............. 19 B. Five state supreme courts hold that neutral-principles analysis requires enforcing denominational “trust” provisions regardless of contrary secular evidence of intent or compliance with governing law. ................................................. 24 C. The lower-court division generates uncertainty in private property rights and creates practical difficulties for churches, denominations, and third parties. .................. 28 D. The decision below also conflicts with the Court’s free exercise and establishment decisions. ......................................................... 30 E. The retroactive effect of the ruling below makes this case an ideal vehicle both to resolve the split and to address the question expressly left open in Jones. ............ 32 II. This Court should decide whether the Contracts Clause permits applying state statutory changes retroactively to impose a denominational trust on local church property. 34 CONCLUSION .......................................................... 36 v APPENDIX A: The Falls Church, a/k/a The Church at the Falls–The Falls Church v. The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, No. 120919, Opinion, Su- preme Court of Virginia, April 18, 2013, re- ported at 740 S.E.2d 530 (Va. 2013) .................... 1a APPENDIX B: The Falls Church, a/k/a The Church at the Falls–The Falls Church v. The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, No. 120919, Order Deny- ing Rehearing, June 14, 2013 ............................ 37a APPENDIX C: In re Multi-Circuit Church Property Litigation, CL Nos. 2007-248724, et al., Order on Remand to Correct Error in Judgment, Sept. 17, 2013 ................................... 38a APPENDIX D: In re Multi-Circuit Church Property Litigation, CL Nos. 2007-248724, et al., Letter Opinion Regarding the Com- plaints Filed by the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America and the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Dio- cese of Virginia, Jan. 10, 2012, reported at 84 Va. Cir. 105 (2012) .............................................. 45a APPENDIX E: In re Multi-Circuit Church Property Litigation, CL Nos. 2007-248724, et al., Final Order, March 1, 2012 ....................... 234a APPENDIX F: In re Multi-Circuit Church Prop- erty Litigation, CL Nos. 2007-248724, et al., Consent Order Correcting Final Order, March 16, 2012 ................................................. 255a vi APPENDIX G: Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Virginia v. Truro Church, Nos. 090682, 090683, Opinion, June 10, 2010, re- ported at 694 S.E.2d 555 (Va. 2010). ............... 265a APPENDIX H: In re Multi-Circuit Episcopal Church Property Litigation, No. CL 2007– 248724, Letter Opinion on Remaining 57–9 Issues, Dec. 19, 2008, reported at 76 Va. Cir. 976 (2008) ......................................................... 293a APPENDIX I: In re Multi-Circuit Episcopal Church Property Litigation, CL 2007- 248724, Letter Opinion on the Court’s Five Questions, June 27, 2008, reported at 76 Va. Cir. 884 (2008) .................................................. 324a vii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Page(s) CASES All Saints Parish Waccamaw v. Protestant Episcopal Church, 385 S.C. 428 (2009), cert. dismissed, 130 S.Ct. 2088 (2010) ......................................... 20 Allied Structural Steel Co. v. Spannaus, 438 U.S. 234 (1978) ............................................ 35 Arkansas Presbytery of Cumberland Presbyterian Church v. Hudson, 344 Ark. 332, cert. denied, 534 U.S. 945 (2001) ...................................... 20, 36 Berthiaume v. McCormack, 153 N.H. 239 (2006) ............................................ 22 Bowen v. Georgetown Univ. Hosp., 488 U.S. 204 (1988) ............................................ 34 Brooke v. Shacklett, 54 Va. 301 (1856) ................................................ 11 Calder v. Bull, 3 U.S. 386 (1798) .......................................... 18, 35 Church of God in Christ, Inc. v. Graham, 54 F.3d 522 (8th Cir. 1995) ................................ 21 Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah, 508 U.S. 520 (1993) ...................................... 17, 31 Corporation of Presiding Bishop v. Amos, 483 U.S. 327 (1987) ............................................ 31 Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn, 420 U.S. 469 (1975) .............................................. 5 viii Episcopal Church Cases, 45 Cal. 4th 467, cert. denied, 558 U.S. 827 (2009) .................. 24-25 Episcopal Church in Diocese of Connecticut v. Gauss, 302 Conn. 408 (2011), cert. denied, 132 S. Ct. 2772 (2012) ........................................ 24 Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth v. The Episcopal Church, 2013 WL 4608728 (Tex. Aug. 30, 2013) ....... 21, 36 Episcopal Diocese of Rochester v. Harnish, 11 N.Y.3d 340 (2008) .......................................... 26 Finley v. Brent, 87 Va. 103 (1890) .......................................... 11, 35 Gallego’s Ex’rs v. Attorney Gen., 30 Va. 450 (1832)
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