The Supreme Court of Virginia will take the appeal of the Diocese of Virginia. A lower court had awarded property to CANA. The briefing will take three months once the appeal is certified, which is to happen promptly. Oral argument will likely occur in the first quarter of 2010 with a decision about two months after the argument.
More about procedure of the court here.
UPDATE: The Washington Post has a report by Michelle Boorstein. She writes, “the Episcopal Church is arguing against democracy.”
The church is not arguing against democracy. It is arguing for the liberty enshrined in the Constitution for people to freely associate, organizing their religion in the way that suits their beliefs. The Episcopal Church has chosen a hierarchical organization. It also happens to be democratic: consider that the General Convention heads the church in much the way United States was organized under the Articles of Confederation. Ironically, the Articles are considered more democratic than the Constitution. ADDED: If secession is assumed to be intrinsic to democracy then Lincoln was no democrat.
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Diocese of Virginia Press Release
The Supreme Court of Virginia has agreed to hear the appeal of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia and Episcopal Church in their case to protect their legacy, faith and future for all Episcopalians.
The Court notified diocesan attorneys this morning that it has granted the petition for appeal of the Diocese of Virginia and the Episcopal Church on all assignments of error. This means that the Court agreed to review every issue raised for appeal by the Diocese and the Episcopal Church without oral argument.
The Diocese and the Episcopal Church will appear before the Court in the upcoming months with its outstanding appellate team, including renowned constitutional scholar A.E. Dick Howard, Esq., professor of law at the University of Virginia and the executive director of the Commission on Constitutional Revision, which revised the constitution of Virginia.
“We are pleased that the Court has agreed to hear this important case regarding the ability of the Episcopal Church and other hierarchical churches to organize themselves according to their beliefs without unwarranted governmental interference,” said Henry Burt, Secretary of the Diocese. “We welcome this next step to bringing exiled Episcopalians closer to returning to their church homes.”
As a result of this ruling, the oral argument scheduled for October 21, 2009 has been canceled.