Protestant Episc. Church, Diocese of NJ v. Graves

At the heart of this case is a dispute between a central church and members of a parish over the ownership and control of parish property. The legal question is what is the proper methodology to be applied to resolve that dispute. We are not being called upon to solve a controversy between rival factions *583of the same congregation or a religious dispute between members of a parish and a central church.

The First Amendment to the federal Constitution prohibits Congress from making any “law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof . . . .”

This Amendment has…