NY Religious Corporations Law

[Friedman, Howard M.]

Probably the earliest development of the corporate form in Roman law and English law was the "corporation sole" that permitted property to pass from one bishop to the next when the bishop died. This avoided the inheritance problems that would be present if title were held in the personal name of the bishop.  Some of the same issues would likely arise if religious entities today tried to operate in non-corporate form. Beyond this, do we really want clergy holding property, often purchased with funds from their congregants, in their own names with the potential for abuse that this could pose? Also, to the extent that religious corporation statutes impose greater restrictions on incorporated churches than are imposed on other incorporated non-profits and charities, isn't there an equal protection problem?
 
Howard Friedman

________________________________

From: religionlaw-bounces at lists.ucla.edu on behalf of hamilton02 at aol.com
Sent: Wed 3/11/2009 3:57 PM
To: religionlaw at lists.ucla.edu
Subject: Re: NY Religious Corporations Law



The question here is whether you can satisfy the rule against judicial
oversight of ecclesiology and permit the states to serve their
legitimate interest in overseeing those that obtain corporation status.
Religious entities need and/or want to be able to operate with the
benefits of a corporation, including property ownership by an entity
that surpasses the lives of any particular individuals and limited
liability. Incorporation is voluntary, so why isn't there an argument
that if they choose incorporation and its benefits, they have to
agree to certain state oversight? While it is relatively easy to point
to potential constituitonal difficulties in the laws as written, there
are difficult issues getting the balance correct.

Marci

Marci A. Hamilton
Paul R. Verkuil Chair in Public Law
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Yeshiva University
55 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10003



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