The Presbyterian Lay Committee on July 27, 2009 filed a friend of the court brief with the U. S. Supreme Court on behalf of St James Parish in Newport Beach, Calif., following a California Supreme Court ruling that awarded the congregation’s property to its former denomination, The Episcopal Church.

The PLC brief argues that the California court’s decision violated the First Amendment of the U. S. Constitution’s Establishment and Free Exercise clauses by exempting a hierarchical church government from fundamental property laws that all other persons and organizations are required to honor.