Question from a reporter

[Douglas Laycock]

  This is very helpful.  Of course, this is only reported cases  A
more complete data set for the years it covers is the Religious
Freedom Reporter, which runs from 1981 I think to the late 90s (or
maybe the very early 2000s).  Finding a library with a complete set
can sometimes be a challenge.  They had a network of lawyers sending
them cases they knew about, so they pick up a fair number of trial
court cases that never got reported.  Still not a complete population
I'm sure.

  Quoting "Hassler, Jeffrey (student)"
<Jeffrey.Hassler at pepperdine.edu>:

> 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[1]>   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[2]> 
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[3]>  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[4]>  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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>
>
>

Douglas Laycock
Yale Kamisar Collegiate Professor of Law
University of Michigan Law School
625 S. State St.
Ann Arbor, MI  48109-1215
  734-647-9713


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