Calvary Presbyterian Church v. Presbytery of Baltimore of United Presbyterian Church

The commandment of Watson v. Jones, 80 U. S. (13 Wall.) 679, 20 L. Ed. 666 (1871), addressed to the courts, is that thou shalt not delve deeply into jurisdictional disputes among churches. 1 That precept is a direct outgrowth of the First Amendment’s fiat that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof----” 2 U.S. Const, amend I. That language, as Thomas Jefferson viewed it, built “a wall of separation between church and State.” 3 The “wall of separation” does not mean that courts havé been stripped of all power to inquire…