Today the U.S. Supreme Court in
Presbyterian Church v. Edwards, (Docket No. 18A1126, June 3, 2019) (
Order List) denied an
application to stay enforcement while a petition for certiorari is filed of an order by the Kentucky Supreme Court (see
prior posting). The Kentucky Supreme Court allowed discovery to proceed in a defamation suit against the Presbyterian Church to the extent necessary to determine if the church is entitled to ecclesiastical immunity. The Church claims that the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine precludes this.