Justia California Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The Los Angeles Diocese and certain individuals sued persons connected with St. James Parish claiming that the national church owned certain church property in dispute. At issue was whether the court's decision in Episcopal Church Cases, supra, was merely affirming th previous judgment of the Court of Appeals or resolved the dispute on the merits. The court held that that it merely affirmed the previous judgment and therefore, remanded the matter for further proceedings without deciding the case on the merits.