Marie Rohde | Jul. 8, 2015
Milwaukee bankruptcy
Lawyers for Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider a federal appellate court ruling that a $55 million-plus cemetery trust fund is not shielded in bankruptcy court by the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and the First Amendment.
Chances that the court will accept the case are slim. Of the more than 10,000 requests, the Supreme Court only accepts about 80 a year. A key factor in deciding what cases to accept is whether there are contradictory opinions on the key issues among the 13 federal appellate courts.
“That split does not exist,” said Marci Hamilton, a law professor at the Cardozo School in New York*, where she specializes in cases involving the religious freedom act. “The 7th Circuit wrote a complete and virtually unassailable decision in the Milwaukee case.”
Timothy Nixon, a lawyer for the cemetery trust fund, disagreed. In a written statement, he said:
“The 7th Circuit decision encroaches on religious freedom and curtails the protection in the First Amendment for the free expression of religion. The 7th Circuit decision is also directly at odds with previous decisions rendered by at least three other federal appeals courts in different parts of the country.” ...
James Stang, a lawyer representing the claimants in the Milwaukee case, said a number of states have local laws similar to the federal RFRA that allow some cases to be handled at the state level.
“In states that do not have these laws, bankruptcy is seen as a way of shielding assets from creditors,” he said. “This decision means they can’t hide under RFRA anymore.”
Hamilton agreed but added that if the Supreme Court takes the case and rules in favor of the archdiocese, it could have another impact: It could affect same-sex marriage, particularly in the 20 states where it had not been legal until the high court ruled last month that it was legal in all states.
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