Legal Opinion
Dobrota v. Free Serbian Orthodox Church
Court of Appeals of Arizona
Decided February 10, 1998No. 1 CA-CV 96-0606PublishedCited by 9 opinions
1Opinion of the Court
OPINION
RYAN, Judge.
¶ 1 This appeal examines the limits set by the Free Exercise and Establishment of Religion Clauses of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution on a civil court’s authority to decide an employment dispute between a priest and his church and diocese. We must also decide whether a civil court must abstain from enforcing an ecclesiastical court’s judgment authorizing an award of damages to a priest. We hold that a civil court cannot, consistent with the First Amendment, decide a dispute between a church and its priest concerning the church’s termination of a…
2Cases cited16 opinions
- Watson v. JonesSupreme Court of the United States · 1872
- Serbian Eastern Orthodox Diocese for United States and Canada v. MilivojevichSupreme Court of the United States · 1976
- Presbyterian Church in US v. Mary Elizabeth Blue Hull Memorial Presbyterian ChurchSupreme Court of the United States · 1969
- Jones v. WolfSupreme Court of the United States · 1979
- Kedroff v. Saint Nicholas Cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church in North AmericaSupreme Court of the United States · 1952
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3Cited by9 opinions
- Norman Redwing v. Catholic Bishop for the Diocese of MemphisTennessee Supreme Court · 2012
- Jenkins v. Trinity Evangelical Lutheran ChurchAppellate Court of Illinois · 2005
- Rashedi v. General Board of Church of the NazareneCourt of Appeals of Arizona · 2002
- Ad Hoc Committee of Parishioners of Our Lady of Sun Catholic Church, Inc. v. ReissCourt of Appeals of Arizona · 2010
- Vann v. Guildfield Missionary Baptist ChurchDistrict Court, W.D. Virginia · 2006
4 more not listed; retrieve them via the Exa API.