Presbyterian Church v. Hull Church

Presbyterian Church v. Hull Church
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued December 9–10, 1968 Decided January 27, 1969
Full case name	Presbyterian Church in the United States, et al. v. Mary Elizabeth Blue Hull Memorial Presbyterian Church, et al.
Citations	393 U.S. 440 (more) 89 S. Ct. 601; 21 L. Ed. 2d 658; 1969 U.S. LEXIS 2702
Case history
Prior	Certiorari granted, 390 U.S. 440 (1968)
Holding
The First Amendment, as applied through the Fourteenth Amendment, bars the state from passing judgment in theological matters when judging property disputes involving religious organizations. Invalidates so-called "departure-from-doctrine" theory.
Court membership
Chief Justice Earl Warren Associate Justices Hugo Black · William O. Douglas John M. Harlan II · William J. Brennan Jr. Potter Stewart · Byron White Abe Fortas · Thurgood Marshall
Case opinions
Majority	Brennan, joined by unanimous
Concurrence	Harlan
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amends. I, XIV

Presbyterian Church v. Hull Church, 393 U.S. 440 (1969), was a United States Supreme Court case involving the secession of two local churches, including Hull Memorial Presbyterian Church, from the parent body Presbyterian Church in the United States because, they claimed, the Church had departed from its original doctrinal tenets. The Court ruled that the state could not pass judgment concerning religious doctrine or church law.