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Diocese of South Carolina Rebuts Amici Brief Defending Justice HearnToday the Diocese of South Carolina (Diocese) filed our Response, at the Court's request, to the Amici brief submitted on behalf of Justice Kaye Hearn regarding her actions on the South Carolina Supreme Court in its recent ruling in Appellate Case No. 2015-000622. Her opinion there provided the deciding vote to deprive at least 29 parish churches of their right to properties some have held for over 300 years. Similar to the previous filings on the issue of Justice Hearn's recusal, 26 attorneys signed this response as well. Statement by the Rev. Canon (News - Alert) Jim Lewis: "An essential issue before the State Supreme Court in this matter is whether the Judicial Code of Conduct means what it says. If it does, Justice Hearn should and must be recused from any further participation in this case. At a minimum, she should have no part in the Court's decision whether to rehear this case. Further, if the Court is to defend the due process rights of the Diocese of South Carolina, we likewise believe it should vacate her existing opinion and grant a fresh hearing before a new bench of Justices that is untainted by her failure to recuse herself." From today's filed Response: + Regarding Justice Hearn's interest in the outcome, the amici brief "simply disregards the evidence provided with the Motion to Recuse." [p. 4] + The Canons of the State Code of Judicial Conduct places "the determination regarding recusal and duty to disclose and recuse on the judge, not the parties." [p. 8] + There are no grounds for Justices Hearn's continued participation in this case. The amici brief itself makes "no argument that prospective recusal is unavailable and inappropriate in these circumstance." [p. 10] Conclusion: "Respectfully, Justice Hearn should recuse herself from hearing the Petition for Rehearing and the Court should vacate her opinion and appoint a Justice to hear the Petition. Failing that, the Court should vacate all of the opinions and order rehearing." [p. 12] The Diocese also provided the following list of additional details:
A copy of today's filed Reply can be found here: http://www.diosc.com/sys/images/documents/tec/2017_10_13_response_to_amicus_brief.pdf A copy of the Diocese's filed Petition, Motion and Affidavits can be found here:
http://www.diosc.com/sys/images/documents/tec/2017-09-01-petition-for-rehearing.pdf Supreme Court's Current Ruling and Video of Oral Arguments:
http://www.sccourts.org/opinions/HTMLFiles/SC/27731.pdf Judge Goodstein's Orders from the Trial Court:
http://www.diosc.com/sys/images/documents/tec/15_2_3_final_order.pdf South Carolina Code of Judicial Conduct
Canon 2 - http://www.sccourts.org/courtreg/displayRule.cfm?ruleID=501.0&subRuleID=Canon%202&ruleType=APP History of the Case and The Diocese of South Carolina: http://www.diosc.com/sys/legal-media A recent Statement by over 113 clergy of 10 difference denominations affirming our legal concerns: https://www.palmettofamily.org/diocese-supporters/ The Statement by the Rector of St. Philip's, Charleston regarding the potential impact of this ruling: For third party legal analysis of the recusal issue, reference the commentary of Mr. A.S. Haley: http://accurmudgeon.blogspot.com/ About the Diocese of South Carolina The Diocese was founded in 1785 by the parishes of the former South Carolina colony. Four years later the Diocese became a founding diocese of the Episcopal Church. Based in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, the Diocese is one of the oldest religious districts in the United States and counts among its members several of the oldest, operating churches in the nation. The Diocese of South Carolina is a member of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) and recognized by Anglican Dioceses and Provinces around the world, many of whom have broken fellowship with The Episcopal Church. In 2013 the Diocese joined the global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans and entered into a formal relationship of Provisional Primatial Oversight with the Global South Primates. It was welcomed as a member diocese of the ACNA in June 2017. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171013005659/en/ |