Young, In re, 93-2267
| Decision Date | 27 June 1996 |
| Docket Number | No. 93-2267,93-2267 |
| Citation | 89 F.3d 494 |
| Parties | In re Bruce YOUNG. In re Nancy YOUNG. Julia A. CHRISTIANS, Appellee, United States of America, Intervenor, v. CRYSTAL EVANGELICAL FREE CHURCH, Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Kenneth Corey-Edstrom, Brooklyn Center, MN, argued, for appellant.
Douglas Laycock, Austin, TX, argued, for amici curiae.
Richard Thomas Thomson, Minneapolis, MN, argued, for appellee.
The suggestion for rehearing en banc is denied. The petition for rehearing by the panel is also denied.
BEAM, Circuit Judge, specially concurring in the denial of the petition for rehearing en banc.
Although I generally agree with the ultimate disposition of this case, I want to emphasize that the court's decision cannot mean that all religious contributions by a bankruptcy debtor constitute a preferential transfer under the Bankruptcy Code. The court holds that even assuming the Youngs received some reasonably equivalent value from church services, they did not make their contributions "in exchange for" church services. While that may be true on the facts of this case, it would certainly not be true in the context of many religious contributions. For example, the United States Supreme Court has held that contributions to the Church of Scientology were in exchange for "an identifiable benefit, namely, auditing and training sessions" and thus were not tax deductible charitable contributions. Hernandez v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 490 U.S. 680, 691, 109 S.Ct. 2136, 2144-45, 104 L.Ed.2d 766 (1989). Moreover, in some synagogues, attendance at worship services for Jewish High Holy Days is predicated upon the purchase of a ticket or a reserved seat. See, e.g., id. at 709, 109 S.Ct. at 2153-54 (O'Connor, J., dissenting). Another example is the rule that Mormons must tithe ten percent of their gross income as a precondition to receiving a "temple recommend"--i.e., attending services and praying at the Central Church in Salt Lake City, Utah. See In re Bien, 95 B.R. 281 (Bankr.D.Conn.1989); see also Hernandez, 490 U.S. at 709, 109 S.Ct. at 2153-54. As a final example, Roman Catholics can make a fixed payment in the form of a Mass stipend to a priest, who in turn conducts a Mass for the intention of the donor. See Hernandez, 490 U.S. at 709, 109 S.Ct. at 2153-54. Therefore, the court's conclusion that church services were not provided "in exchange for" the debtors' tithing would fail to resolve the instances when religious contributions are directly linked to certain benefits.
The court's analysis may also prove too rigid in the sense that even when a religion does not expressly require a monetary contribution as a precondition to receiving a benefit, a practitioner may feel compelled to contribute to their religious organization in order to qualify for the services or to be a member in good standing. While a particular religion or church...
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...church." Id. at 1420. After this Court denied the Trustee's petition for rehearing en banc, see Christians v. Crystal Evangelical Free Church (In re Young), 89 F.3d 494, 494 (8th Cir.1996), the Supreme Court held that RFRA was unconstitutional as applied to state law. See Flores, --- U.S. a......
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