Tag: Ecclesiastical Abstention Doctrine

Mississippi Supreme Court Decisions of January 11, 2024

The Mississippi Supreme Court handed down four opinions and entered an impressive sixteen “other orders” today. The opinions are a direct criminal appeal, an ecclesiastical abstention case, a precedent-overruling PCR case, and a contract case deciding whether a post-mediation agreement was enforceable. Among the sixteen other orders is an order amending Rule 54 of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure that civil practitioners should note.

Hawkins v. State, 2022-KA-01250-SCT (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of sexual battery, holding that there was sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to find based on the totality of the circumstances that the defendant was in a position of trust or authority over the victim.
(9-0)

Melton v. Union Hill Missionary Baptist Church, 2022-CA-00737-SCT (Civil – Other)
Reversing and vacating the chancery court’s judgment in a dispute over whether a church had been removed its pastor, holding that the doctrine of ecclesiastical abstention put this question outside of the chancery court’s jurisdiction and that the well-meaning chancellor violated the Mississippi Constitution and the Establishment Clause when he personally moderated a congregational meeting to hold a second vote on the pastor and declared the church’s sanctuary a courtroom.
(9-0)

NOTE – The Court also had this to say about the congregational meeting:

Ronk v. State, 2021-DR-00269-SCT (Civil – PCR)
Affirming denial of motion for relief from judgment or for leave to file successive petition for PCR that included an ineffective assistance claim, overruling Grayson v. State to the extent it excepted ineffective-assistance-of-post-conviction-counsel claims from the UPCCRA’s bars in death-penalty cases, based on the recent Howell decision.
(6-3: Kitchens dissented, joined by King and Ishee)

Logan v. RedMed, LLC, 2022-CA-00669-SCT (Civil – Contract)
Reversing the trial court’s judgment enforcing a settlement following a mediation, holding that the proposed settlement agreement that resulted from the mediation lacked material terms required by Mississippi contract law.
(6-3: Chamberlin dissented, joined by Maxwell and Beam)

Other Orders

In Re: The Rules of Civil Procedure, 89-R-99001-SCT (amending Rule 54, effective January 18, 2024)

NOTE – Here is the amended text of Rule 54(d):

And here is the amended Advisory Committee Historical Note:

In Re: The Rules of Discipline for the Mississippi Bar, 89-R-99010-SCT (appointing or reappointing Hon. Eleanor Faye Peterson, Clarence Webster III, Jackye C. Bertucci, Hon. Mark A. Maples, Hon. Celeste E. Wilson, and Charles Elliott Winfield as complaint tribunal members for three-year terms from January 1, 2024, through December 31, 2026)

Flynt v. State, 2016-M-00862 (denying PCR motion, finding the motion frivolous, and warning that future frivolous filings might result in sanctions)

Williams v. State, 2016-M-01063 (denying PCR motion, finding the motion frivolous, and warning that future frivolous filings might result in sanctions)

Cavitt v. State, 2018-M-00197 (denying PCR motion, finding the motion frivolous, and warning that future frivolous filings might result in sanctions)

Ronk v. State, 2021-DR-00269-SCT (denying motion for relief from judgment or leave to file successive PCR petition)

Howard Industries, Inc. v. Hayes, 2021-CT-00694, consolidated with 2021-CT-00695 (granting appellee’s motion for attorney’s fees for additional services provided and denying rehearing)

Christian v. State, 2021-M-00807 (denying PCR motion, finding the motion frivolous, and warning that future frivolous filings might result in sanctions)

Priceline.com, LLC v. Fitch, 2021-CA-00868-SCT (denying rehearing)

Johnson v. Johnson, 2021-CT-01080-SCT (denying cert)

Ehrhardt v. State, 2021-CT-01143-SCT (denying cert)

Pearson v. Eubanks, 2022-CT-00011-SCT (granting cert)

Brown v. State, 2022-CT-00069-SCT (denying cert)

Roosa v. Roosa, 2022-CT-00128-SCT (denying cert)

Tarvin v. State, 2022-M-00260 (denying PCR motion, finding the motion frivolous, and warning that future frivolous filings might result in sanctions)

The Mississippi Bar v. Russell, 2023-BD-00843-SCT (granting petition to transfer lawyer to disability inactive status)

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Mississippi Supreme Court Decisions of August 24, 2023

The Mississippi Supreme Court handed down one opinion today in an interesting case addressing the applicability of the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine that yielded a total of four opinions. The Court also granted cert in three significant cases covering three very different areas of law: (1) a direct criminal appeal where the COA affirmed a conviction of sexual battery over a dissent finding a Confrontation Clause violation, (2) a PCR case where the COA held an indictment was defective but the claim was procedurally barred, and (3) a civil case where the COA reversed summary judgment because it said there was a question of fact whether car wreck was the proximate cause of opioid misuse and death.

Beachy v. Mississippi District for Assemblies of God, 2021-CA-01007-SCT (Civil – Contract)
Reversing the chancellor’s ruling in a dec action brought by the District against a particular church and its board of trustees that had sought to disaffiliate with the District and remove a reverter clause in its constitution and bylawys that would have caused the church’s property to revert to the District, holding that issues concerning disaffiliation are church-governing matters and that the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine deprived the chancellor of jurisdiction over but that there was a genuine issue of material fact concerning the issue of property ownership.
(5-2-2: Maxwell specially concurred, joined by Coleman, Beam, and Chamberlin, and joined in part by Ishee; Ishee concurred in part and dissented in part joined in part by Maxwell; Randolph dissented, joined by Griffis)

Other Orders

Hathorne v. State, 2021-CT-00306-SCT (granting cert) (a 2-4-4 COA affirmed denial of motion for PCT, holding that the indictment was defective for failing to charge a crime but that the claim was procedurally barred)

Barfield v. State, 2021-CT-00660-SCT (denying cert)

Pitts v. State, 2021-CT-00740-SCT (granting cert) (a 6-1-2 COA affirmed conviction of sexual battery after a screen was placed between the child and the defendant; Judge Wilson’s dissent argued that the use of the screen was a violation of the Confrontation Clause)

Clark v. Tippah County Dept. of CPS, 2021-CT-01209-SCT (denying cert)

Smith v. Minier, 2021-CT-01284 (granting cert) (the COA reversed summary judgment dismissing wrongful death claim where decedent died of chronic liver failure five months after a car wreck, holding that there was a fact question as to whether the at-fault driver’s actions were proximate cause of decedent’s use of pain meds, misuse of pain meds, and resulting death)

Penn-Star Ins. Co. v. Thompson, 2022-IA-00106-SCT (denying rehearing)

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Mississippi Court of Appeals Decisions of August 1, 2023

The Mississippi Court of Appeals handed down six opinions today. We have a couple of state boards and agencies decisions, one dealing with recall of a police officer’s certification and the other with a termination of a teacher and suspension of license. There is a real property case involving a church and the invocation of the “ecclesiastical abstention doctrine,” a direct criminal appeal, and two PCR cases.

As a housekeeping note, I have started writing “sub silentio” instead of “without separate written opinion” to indicate concurrences and dissents without separate written opinions. I am not aware of that phrase being used in that specific manner, but I think it gets the point across. This may not seem like a big deal, and it really isn’t, but the frequency with which I have been typing “without separate written opinion” has become a thief of joy for this humble blogger of case summaries.

Walters v. Board on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Training, 2022-SA-00378-COA (Civil – State Boards and Agencies)
Affirming the chancery court’s decision affirming Board’s decision to recall a police officer’s processional certification, holding that the Board’s decision was not arbitrary and capricious, did not violate the former officer’s constitutional rights, and were supported by substantial evidence including evidence of unnecessary force, violations of department policies, and racist text messages.
(10-0)

NOTE– The Court also granted in part a motion from the Board to unseal the case file.

Pickle v. State, 2022-CP-00929-COA (Civil – PCR)
Affirming the circuit court’s decision denying a motion to vacate a sentence for capital murder while committing criminal rape from 1978, holding that the petitioner was not illegally sentenced and that he was not entitled to a Miller resentencing hearing.
(8-2-0: Emfinger concurred in part and in the result sub silentio; Lawrence concurred in the result only sub silentio.)

Greater New Hamilton Grove Baptist Church v. Hamilton Grove Missionary Baptist Church, 2022-CA-00518-COA (Civil – Real Property)
Affirming the chancellor’s ruling that a deed purporting to convey real property owned by a church was invalid because it was not authorized by a resolution under section 79-11-31(1), holding that the chancellor was not deprived of subject matter jurisdiction under the “ecclesiastical abstention doctrine,” that the “minutes rule” was not applicable because a church is not a public board, and the chancellor did not abuse her discretion in granting the plaintiff leave to file an amended complaint.
(10-0)

NOTE – I thought the Court’s summary of its decision on the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine was interesting:

Badger v. State, 2022-CP-00831-COA (Civil – PCR)
Affirming denial of the petitioner’s third motion for PCR twelve years after pleading guilty, holding that the circuit court did not err in finding that the motion was time-barred and did not meet any statutory exception under the UPCCRA or any fundamental rights exception that was in effect at that time.
(8-2-0: Westbrooks concurred in result only sub silentio.)

Langley v. Miss. State Board of Education, 2022-SA-01024-COA (Civil – State Board and Agencies)
Affirming the BOE’s decision upholding a teacher’s termination for violations of the BOE’s standards of conduct, suspending her license for five years, and placing conditions on reinstatement, holding that the Commission’s decision as upheld by the Board and the chancery court was supported by substantial evidence and was not arbitrary or capricious, the Commission was authorized to suspect her license, and she was afforded due process at her hearing.
(10-0)

West v. State, 2022-KA-00432-COA (Criminal – Felony)
Affirming conviction of sexual battery and gratification of lust, both while in position of trust and authority, holding that the defendant’s sufficiency of the evidence argument was procedurally barred because it was not raised before the circuit court and that the circuit court did not commit plain error in not sua sponte declaring a mistrial.
(5-3-2: Barnes, McDonald, and Emfinger concurred in part and in the result sub silentio; Greenlee concurred in part and dissented in part sub silentio; Westbrooks concurred in part and dissented in part, joined by McDonald and Greenlee in part)

Other Orders

Wakefield v. State, 2021-KA-00187-COA (denying rehearing)

Estate of Bell v. Estate of Bell, 2021-CA-00789-COA (denying rehearing)

Anderson v. State, 2021-KA-01340-COA (denying rehearing)

McDowell v. State, 2021-CA-01381-COA (denying rehearing)

Everett v. State, 2021-CP-01415-COA (denying rehearing)

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