Law Commons^™

Secularization By Incorporation: Corporate Identity And The Religious Corporation, Bruce B. Jackson

Bruce B Jackson

First Amendment Religion Clause doctrine applicable to a religious organization’s internal property dispute offers civil courts an option. Provided the controversy does not involve religious doctrine, a civil court may either defer to a religious organization’s governing body, or, resolve the matter itself by applying neutral principles of law. Application of the doctrine requires a civil court to treat religious corporations with a hierarchical form of government differently from those with a congregational form of government. For religious corporations that are hierarchically organized and governed, a normative Religion Clause analysis requires a civil court to defer to the decision of …