Question from a reporter

[Hassler, Jeffrey (student)]

I'm just a law student, but I've been working on a student comment on
civil court resolution of church property disputes, and there are at
least some figures out there about church property cases in courts.
I've pasted below a paragraph from my article discussing some informal
research on the subject done by Prof. Greenawalt:
 
Jeff
 
------------
 
Church property disputes will never be the bread and butter of the civil
courts, but that doesn't mean controversies don't arise on a regular
basis.  In 1998, Professor Greenawalt noted that courts have heard an
average of about 119 church property cases each decade since 1948.[1]
<outbind://105/#_ftn1>   The numbers reflect slight increases during
periods of particular doctrinal disputation.  In the decade since
Professor Greenawalt's tabulation, there were approximately 91 church
property cases heard in the U.S.;[2] <outbind://105/#_ftn2>  this figure
is consistent with earlier trends and the pattern indicates the
possibility that the number is rising again, perhaps in response to the
increase in intradenominational strife described above. 

________________________________


[1] <outbind://105/#_ftnref1>  Kent Greenawalt, Hands Off! Civil Court
Involvement in Conflicts over Religious Property, 98 Colum. L. Rev.
1843, 1844 n.1. (1998).  Professor Greenawalt's findings are as follows:

The following data show the approximate number of reported cases in both
federal and state courts over a period of fifty years (amassed through a
Westlaw search).  The numbers reflect each time a different court had to
address the issue of church property; thus, appeals are counted
separately.  From 1948 to 1957, there were approximately 166 cases; from
1958-1967, roughly 109; from 1968-1977, 115 cases; from 1978-1987, 123
cases; from 1988-1997, 81.  (This search was done in Oct. 1998, in the
"Allcases" database).

Id.

 

[2] <outbind://105/#_ftnref2>  This search was conducted in January
2007, using the criteria discussed in the previous note.  It reflects
only nine years rather than a full decade, and thus will almost
certainly under-represent the actual figure for the ten years following
Professor Greenawalt's search.

 

-----------
 
_______________
Jeff Hassler
Pepperdine School of Law
24255 Pacific Coast Hwy #0028
Malibu, CA 90263-0028
310.506.3920
 
 

	-----Original Message-----
	
	From: Volokh, Eugene <VOLOKH at law.ucla.edu>
	Date: Feb 7, 2007 6:27 PM
	Subject: Question from a reporter
	To: Law & Religion issues for Law Academics <
religionlaw at lists.ucla.edu <mailto:religionlaw at lists.ucla.edu> >
	
	A reporter asked me:  "Is it my imagination, or are
denominations and
	members increasingly turning to the courts to settle disputes.
[I've
	seen]  current disputes within the Catholic, Episcopal, Missouri

	Lutheran faiths -- and there are doubtless more that I don't
know about.
	There are issues of personnel and property.   Does anyone track
such a
	thing, or has the issue been studied?"  I didn't have an answer,
but 
	offered to ask on-list.  Any thoughts on this?  Thanks,
	
	Eugene
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