TECSC Files Petition for a writ of prohibition with SC Supreme Court

On Friday, February 21, 2020, attorneys for The Episcopal Church in South Carolina (TECSC, also known as the (Episcopal) Diocese of South Carolina) filed a Petition for a Writ of Prohibition with the South Carolina Supreme Court to bar South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Edgar W. Dickson from re-litigating issues already decided by the South Carolina Supreme Court’s majority decision in favor of TECSC on August 2, 2017. As stated at the conclusion of the petition: “A writ of prohibition is required to ensure that the authority of this Court’s (the South Carolina Supreme Court) ruling is preserved, that this litigation be brought to an end without further, unnecessary delay, and that the property rights this Court awarded to Petitioners be respected.”

The South Carolina Supreme Court’s majority decision in August 2017 ruled that the diocesan property and 29 parishes should be returned to the parties affiliated with The Episcopal Church. Soon after, on November 17, 2017, when the SC Supreme Court denied a Petition for Rehearing filed by the disassociated diocese, it also issued a remittitur for the lower court to enforce the majority decision. Judge Dickson was assigned the case. Since that time, he has held three hearings that focused mostly on motions filed by the opposing party and not on the Petition for Execution, Motion to Appoint a Special Master, and Petition for an Accounting that TECSC filed in support of enforcing the Supreme Court’s decision. More recently, as today’s Petition reveals, Judge Dickson has requested further information in regard to the Motion for Clarification and Further Relief filed by the disassociated diocese that seems to seek to re-litigate or reinterpret the Supreme Court’s majority decision.

In the Petition for a Writ of Prohibition, attorneys for TECSC explain that Judge Dickson’s actions over the past two years seem to indicate he is interested in ruling on a Motion for Clarification and Further Relief filed by the disassociated diocese, which TECSC attorneys contend is beyond his jurisdiction in this matter. As stated in the petition: “The Motion for Clarification asks Judge Dickson to re-litigate issues decided by this Court, and to reach a different result than the one reached by this Court.” To this end, in the Petition TECSC attorneys request the following: “To avoid this improper exercise of jurisdiction, inevitable unnecessary appeals, and further protraction of this dispute while the Other Respondents maintain possession of the trust property at issue, this Court should accordingly prohibit Judge Dickson from taking any further action with respect to the Motion for Clarification other than to deny it as beyond his jurisdiction.” 

All parties are currently scheduled for a hearing in front of Judge Dickson on Thursday, February 27, at the Orangeburg County Courthouse in Orangeburg, SC. It is not known at this time if the hearing will be rescheduled in light of these new developments.