Keiser v. Matamoras Community Church
| Decision Date | 11 June 2002 |
| Docket Number | No. CIV.A. 1:CV 01-2136.,CIV.A. 1:CV 01-2136. |
| Citation | 262 F.Supp.2d 468 |
| Parties | James W. KEISER, George M. Showers, Richard R. Vanhorn, and Richard E. Wilkin, on behalf of themselves and all other members of the Churches of God, Plaintiffs, v. MATAMORAS COMMUNITY CHURCH, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Pennsylvania |
David E. Lehman, McNees, Wallace & Nurick, Curtis N. Stambaugh, McNees, Wallace, & Nurick, Harrisburg, PA, for plaintiffs.
Stephen L. Grose, Keefer, Wood, Allen & Rahal, LLP, Harrisburg, PA, for defendant.
This action brought by individual members of the Churches of God seeks to enjoin the Matamoras Community Church from employing ministers not credentialed by the Churches of God and otherwise practicing their faith in a manner inconsistent with the Constitution and bylaws of the Churches of God. Specifically, Plaintiffs seek to enjoin Defendant from "using church property in ways not sanctioned by the Churches of God." Compl. at p. 8. Now before the Court is Defendant's motion for summary judgment. The motion has been fully briefed, and the Court held oral argument on March 14, 2002. For the reasons discussed below, the motion will be granted.
1. Background
The Church of God was founded in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1825 as a hierarchical Christian denomination. The Matamoras Church of God was founded nearby in 1844. From 1844 until 1994, the Matamoras Church of God was a member of the East Pennsylvania Conference (now called the Eastern Regional Conference) of the Churches of God.1 In 1961, while affiliated with the Eastern Regional Conference, and the larger General Conference of the Churches of God, Matamoras incorporated and soon thereafter purchased 3.6 acres of land. The real estate was at all times held in the name of the corporation, and not in trust for the General or Eastern Conferences. Matamoras built a church on this property; construction was completed in 1968.
In July of 1994, the General Conference amended its constitution to provide that all property held by its member churches must be held in trust for the Churches of God. As a result of this amendment, Matamoras withdrew from the Eastern Regional Conference of the Churches of God and reincorporated as the Matamoras Community Church. The Matamoras Community Church continued to occupy the same property as prior to the reincorporation. Following the withdrawal of Matamoras from the Eastern Regional Conference, the Eastern Regional Conference voted to dissolve Matamoras. This decision was confirmed by the General Conference. Plaintiffs allege that this action reverted the Matamoras property to the General Conference, and that Defendant's continued use of the property in ways not sanctioned by the denomination violates Article 17.03 of the Constitution of the General Conference of the Churches of God2.
On February 26,1996, the East Pennsylvania Conference of the Churches of God filed suit in the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas against Matamoras Community Church in ejectment, replevin and accounting seeking immediate possession of all personal property and realty owned by Matamoras Community Church. After a three day trial in March, 1999, the jury found in favor of Matamoras Community Church. The question posed to the jury on the verdict slip, and answered in the negative was: Has the East Pennsylvania Conference proven by a preponderance of the evidence that Matamoras congregation intended to create a trust of its assets in favor of the Conference? Judgment was thus entered for Defendants.
Plaintiff filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or in the alternative for a new trial; the court denied that motion on December 10, 1999. In denying the motion, the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas examined the Constitution of the General Conference in relation to the actions of Matamoras. The court found that the deed conveying the property purchased in 1961 was drafted to avoid any trust language, and thus "contravened the constitutional directive then in place[.]"3 Dec. 10, 1999 Op. at 4. The court further noted that the Conference took no steps to correct or challenge the action. Id. The court examined Pennsylvania law regarding the creation of a trust, and accordingly looked to the actions of Matamoras vis a vis the property. Because the court found that there was sufficient evidence in the record that Matamoras did not intend to create a trust, the court upheld the jury verdict. Id. at 7-8.
The East Pennsylvania Conference of the Churches of God appealed the decision to the Commonwealth Court, which affirmed the trial court in a memorandum opinion filed on January 16, 2001. The East Pennsylvania Conference filed a petition for allowance of appeal with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which was denied on July 11, 2001.
The present case was filed by the Plaintiffs on November 13, 2001. The Plaintiffs are individual members of the Churches of God, and are seeking class certification to proceed on behalf of all other members of the Churches of God. However, none of the Plaintiffs is a member of the Matamoras Community Church, nor was any Plaintiff a member of the Matamoras Church of God prior to the rift with the Eastern Regional and General Conferences.
II. Discussion
Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 provides that summary judgment is proper when "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." See Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248-51, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The court must view all facts and inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. See Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986). See also Williams v. Perry, 907 F.Supp. 838, 842 (M.D.Pa.1995).
Once the moving party has shown that there is an absence of evidence to support the claims of the non-moving parties, the non-moving parties may not simply sit back and rest on the allegations in her complaint; instead, they must "go beyond the pleadings and by [their] own affidavits, or by the depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, designate specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986) (internal quotations omitted). Summary judgment should be granted where a party "fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden at trial." Id. at 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548.
Plaintiffs assert that this Court has both diversity and federal question jurisdiction. Defendant claims that the Court has neither. Congress has granted district courts diversity jurisdiction over "all civil actions where the matter in controversy exceeds the sum or value of $75,000 exclusive of interests and costs, and is between ... citizens of different States...." 28 U.S.C. § 1332. The named Plaintiffs in this putative class action are residents of Ohio and Michigan. Plaintiffs claim that the jurisdictional amount is met because each Plaintiff is seeking to prohibit Defendant from using property valued at $800,000. Zahn v. International Paper Co. held that Plaintiffs may not aggregate claims in order to satisfy the amount in controversy requirement of Section 1332. 414 U.S. 291, 294-95, 94 S.Ct. 505, 38 L.Ed.2d 511 (1973). However, where the Plaintiffs are attempting "to enforce a single title or right," the Court looks to the value of the property. Id. at 294, 94 S.Ct. 505. Here, the Plaintiffs are attempting to enforce what they believe to be their rights as members of the Church of God to ensure that the property in question is used in accordance with the governing rules of the Churches of God. Whether these are the proper Plaintiffs to do so is an issue of standing and will be addressed as such. Looking solely at the amount in controversy, the singularity of the interest in one property and the diversity of the named Plaintiffs from the Defendant, this Court has diversity jurisdiction over the claims presented. Therefore, the Court need not consider whether it has federal question jurisdiction based on the constitutional claims set forth in the complaint.
Collateral estoppel precludes relitigation of a question of law or an issue of fact that has already been litigated and adjudicated finally in a court of competent jurisdiction. See Day v. Volkswagenwerk Aktiengesellschaft, 318 Pa.Super. 225, 464 A.2d 1313, 1318 (1983). "Federal courts must give a state court judgment the same preclusive effect as would the courts of that state." Swineford v. Snyder County, Penna., 15 F.3d 1258, 1266 (3d Cir.1994). Under Pennsylvania law, collateral estoppel, also known as issue preclusion, applies where the following four factors are met:
(1) An issue decided in a prior action is identical to one presented in a later action; (2) The prior action resulted in a final judgment on the merits; (3) The party against whom collateral estoppel is asserted was a party to the prior action, or is in privity with a party to the prior action; and (4) The party against whom collateral estoppel is asserted had a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issue in the prior action.
Jones v. United Parcel Service, 214 F.3d 402, 405 (3d Cir.2000) (quoting Rue v. Mart Corp., 552 Pa. 13, 713 A.2d 82, 84 (1998)). As there can be no dispute that the jury verdict in the prior litigation constituted a decision on the merits, only the first, third and fourth prongs are at issue here.
Because the ...
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