Funti v. Andrews

Description:  A New York bishop is challenging a trial court’s unconstitutional interference in church affairs.

NEW YORK – The New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, First Department, unanimously ruled Tuesday in favor of a Coptic Orthodox Diocese and its clergy who filed an amici brief in support of reversing a lower court order unconstitutionally stepping into church affairs. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys, together with attorneys from Nelson Madden Black, represent the Diocese, a Coptic Orthodox Church, and its clergy in Funti v. Andrews.

At issue in the case is whether Bishop Anba David officiated a marriage sacrament between a mother and father after he baptized their son at St. Mary & St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church, a New York City church within the bishop’s jurisdiction. The bishop answered that religious question, filing an affidavit in court that said he blessed the mother and father but did not—and could not—marry them. A New York trial court rejected that definitive answer and declared that the bishop did officiate a marriage. ADF’s amicus brief on appeal argued that civil courts have no constitutional authority to second-guess a church official’s definitive pronouncement about a religious matter.

“The First Amendment guarantees the authority and religious liberty of churches, and only churches, not civil courts, can decide whether a religious marriage occurred,” said ADF Senior Counsel and Vice President of Appellate Advocacy John Bursch. “We commend the court’s decision for upholding this church’s religious autonomy and crediting the bishop’s word saying that no religious marriage occurred.”

“[T]he First Amendment,” the court wrote in its opinion, “prevents civil courts from engaging in an analysis of religious doctrine.”

The trial court refused to give credit to the bishop’s answer; enforced subpoenas targeting Bishop David, the local priest, the local church, and the diocese; and subjected Coptic clergy to three days of interrogation about church doctrine, law, and practice. ADF attorneys explained that, in so doing, the court violated the First Amendment in multiple ways.

The Coptic sacrament of marriage is a quintessentially religious matter grounded in church doctrine, practice, and tradition. Attorneys successfully argued that only churches, not civil courts, can decide whether a religious marriage occurred, and civil courts must defer to the bishop’s religious ruling that no marriage took place.

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.

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