Summary of facts: A parishioner filed a class action lawsuit against the USCCB over his donation to a Church-endorsed charity. The parishioner claimed he was misled by the claims over the pulpit from his parish priest as to how the funds would be used because he thought they would be immediately used for charitable purposes, when, instead, some of the funds were invested to be used later. USCCB asked the district court to dismiss on church autonomy grounds, but it refused and allowed discovery to go forward. On appeal, the D.C. Circuit held that church autonomy did not provide appropriate grounds for interlocutory appeal–that is, that USCCB must wait until the end of trial litigation before it can appeal the district court’s refusal to dismiss the case on church autonomy grounds.

RFI’s position: While the Supreme Court has yet to hold that the First Amendment’s church autonomy doctrine squarely covers a religious organization’s internal decisions about how and when to use donations, most lower courts have consistently so held. Without the church autonomy doctrine’s protection in this arena, religious organizations’ ability to fulfill their divine missions as they understand them will suffer greatly. Moreover, the ability to resolve a church autonomy defense at the outset of years of litigation—including to appeal immediately any decision rejecting that defense—is crucial to faith communities’ ability to receive the First Amendment’s full protection. The ability to appeal immediately a denial of church autonomy’s protection against the invasive process of litigation is crucial. Otherwise, religious organizations will be left with no remedy for the harm caused by the litigation itself.

Read the brief here.