Judge Denies Motion to Reconsider; Appeals Process Begins

On Monday afternoon, July 13, South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Edgar Dickson issued an Order (click to read the order) denying the Motion to Reconsider filed by our Diocese on Monday, June 29. The Motion had been filed after Judge Dickson issued an Order on June 19 that seemingly overturned the South Carolina Supreme Court final judgement from August 2017 which ruled that the diocesan property and 29 parishes should be returned to the parties affiliated with The Episcopal Church. In response to yesterday’s order, lawyers for our Diocese immediately filed a Notice of Appeal, and a request for certification of the Stay of the matter until the Appeal is decided by the appellate court.
 
As is customary in South Carolina, the appeal will be filed with the South Carolina Court of Appeals, but Chancellor Thomas S. Tisdale, Jr. noted that he expects this appeal will be transferred to the South Carolina Supreme Court. 
 
Judge Edgar Dickson, a circuit court judge representing the First Judicial Circuit of South Carolina, was assigned this case in November 2017 when the South Carolina Supreme Court (SCSC) issued a remittitur for the lower court to enforce the final judgement as decided by a 3-2 majority of the Court. Judge Dickson’s ruling seems to reinstate the original lower court decision that was reversed by the SCSC in their August 2017 majority decision in favor of The Episcopal Church and The Episcopal Church in South Carolina, also known as the historic Diocese of South Carolina.