Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan v. Acevedo Feliciano

Background

In 1979 a trust ran a pension plan for employees at several Catholic schools in Puerto Rico. In 2016 current and former school employees sued after the trust stopped the plan and their pensions disappeared. They sued the archdiocese, three schools, the trust, and a broader church entity. Puerto Rico trial and appellate courts issued payment and seizure orders before the case was resolved in federal court.

Reasoning

The main question was whether the state trial court had power to issue payment and seizure orders after the case had been removed to federal court. The Supreme Court found the trial court issued those orders after removal and before the federal court remanded the case back. When a case is removed, the state court loses authority to act, so orders entered during that period are void. The Court vacated the Puerto Rico Supreme Court judgment and sent the case back to the Puerto Rico courts to decide how to proceed given that jurisdictional defect.

Real world impact

The ruling means the payment and seizure orders against church entities are invalid because they were issued without state court authority. The Puerto Rico courts must now reconsider who, if anyone, is legally responsible for the pensions. The decision does not resolve which church entities are separate legal persons or any First Amendment claims; those issues can be revisited on remand.

Dissents or concurrances

Two Justices below disagreed about whether dioceses and parishes have separate legal personalities; that dispute could matter if the case returns to decide who must pay.