Church Property and Governance
Courts have sometimes been called upon to consider religious freedom rights under the First Amendment in settling disputes over church property and governance.
Following is a list of Supreme Court cases involving church property and governance and First Amendment rights and concepts.
Presbyterian Church in the United States v. Mary Elizabeth Blue Hull
Memorial Presbyterian Church (1969) denied courts the authority to
interpret doctrine in property disputes.
Permoli v. New Orleans (1845) shows the limits of the free exercise clause
of the First Amendment in the years before the Bill of Rights was applied
to the states.
Order of St. Benedict v. Steinhauser (1914) said a religious order was
entitled to the estate of one of its deceased members, protecting the First
Amendment freedom of religion.
Municipality of Ponce v. Roman Catholic Apostolic Church in Porto Rico
(1908) does not directly mention the First Amendment, but it illuminates
the establishment clause.
In Maryland and Virginia Eldership of the Churches of God v. Church of God
at Sharpsburg (1970) affirmed that in settling church disputes, courts do
not raise First Amendment concerns.
In 1890, the Court ruled that Congress could dissolve the Mormon church
because of its practice of polygamy. That action is now considered a clear
violation of the First Amendment.
In Kedroff v. Saint Nicholas Cathedral (1952), the Supreme Court ruled that
a New York law exercised unconstitutional legislative interference in the
freedom of religion.
In Jones v. Wolf, 443 (1979), the Court ruled that, under the First
Amendment, a state could resolve church property disputes by applying
neutral principles of law.
The Supreme Court ruling in Beatty v. Kurtz (1853) is an example of
favoring church rights despite the First Amendment’s clause against
establishment of religion.
Baker v. Nachtrieb (1856) does not mention the First Amendment, but it
furthered religious free exercise by sustaining an agreement between a
religious society and its members.