Court Supervised Election of Buddhist Temple Board Upheld

In Wat Phra Buddha Chinnaraj Buddhist Temple v. Ketpongsuda, (CA Ct. App., Nov. 14, 2008), a California Court of Appeals upheld a trial court's resolution of a dispute over control of a Buddhist Temple in Chino Hills, CA. The trial court found that bylaws adopted in 1996 were the governing instrument and that later revisions were not properly adopted. It went on to order an election of new directors under the 1996 bylaws. The election was supervised by a court-appointed special master. The appellate court found that the court below properly applied "neutral principles of law" in making its determinations, and did not infringe the Temple's free exercise of religion protected by the California constitution.