Ariona Supreme Court Agrees With Position From Amicus Brief Filed by Schaerr Jaffe Attorneys in Jane Doe v. Corporation of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The Arizona Supreme Court recently handed a victory to the party supported by a Schaerr Jaffe amicus brief on behalf eight religious organizations and related entities. The case, Jane Doe I v. Corporation of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, involved questions regarding Arizona’s statutory requirement for reporting child abuse. And the court held that the First Amendment (1) “generally prohibits factfinders from inquiring into a clergy member’s application of his particular religious doctrine … in determining whether reporting should be withheld if ‘reasonable and necessary’”; (2) “requires courts to exercise substantial deference to a religious institution’s own doctrinal conception of ‘confession’ or ‘confidential communication’”; and (3) “ protects the right of a religious institution to define who is a ‘member of the clergy’ and, absent fraud or collusion for secular purposes, prohibits factfinders from inquiring into the religious institution’s designation of clergy.”

Schaerr Jaffe’s amicus brief was on behalf of the General Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, BAPS Swaminarayan Santhsa, American Islamic Congress, Jewish Coalition for Religions Liberty, Church of Scientology International, Islam and Religious Freedom Action Team of the Religious Freedom Institute, and United Muslims of American Interfaith Alliance. Partner Gene Schaerr and Academic Affiliate James Phillips (with the assistance of Senior Paralegal Kris Robinson) were on the brief, along with local counsel David Brooks of Brooks & Affiliates.