Westbrook v. Penley

In this case, we must decide the constitutionally appropriate role of civil courts in resolving tort actions that arise from acts of church discipline. The defendant pastor in this case, C.L. “Buddy” Westbrook, Jr., who is also a licensed professional counsel- or, directed his congregation to shun Peggy Lee Penley, a former parishioner, for engaging in a “biblically inappropriate” relationship, which the ecclesiastical disciplinary process outlined in the church’s constitution required him to do. Claiming Westbrook had learned the disclosed information in a secular counseling session, Penley…