In recent appellate decisions, the courts in both South Carolina and Texas have pointed to a decisive judicial rejection of the Dennis-Canon-based litigation strategy of the powers at 815 Second Avenue in New York, headquarters of what I (still) call ECUSA. If they ever choose to reassess that strategy (as the Rt. Rev. Jack L. Iker urged them to do, after his recent win against 815 in the Texas Supreme Court), in light of the fiduciary standards to which they ought to be held accountable, now would be a very good time.
In South Carolina recently (see this earlier post for background), the Court of Appeals mooted the Diocese’s motion for transfer to the Supreme Court by entering an order dismissing 815’s appeal outright. This was a correct decision because, as I had pointed out in the post just linked, 815 and its puppet ECSC were trying to appeal from a discovery order, which is not a final order. The Court of Appeals, citing just one case, agreed and ordered the matter back to Judge Goodstein’s court for trial, which is scheduled to go forward this July:
Respondents [Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina and its member parishes] have filed a motion to dismiss this appeal, alleging the underlying order is not immediately appealable. After careful consideration, Respondents’ motion is granted. See Lowndes Prods., Inc. v. Brower, 262 S.C. 431, 433, 205 S.E.2d 184, 184-85 (1974) (finding an order refusing to compel discovery not immediately appealable ).
Could 815 and ECSC try to drag out matters further by filing a petition for rehearing with the Court of Appeals? On the face of things, they should not.
Read more at http://accurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2014/03/sc-and-tx-courts-show-815-which-way.html