Falwell argues against Va. law limiting church property
By The Associated Press
03.31.02
LYNCHBURG, Va. — Lawyers for the Rev. Jerry Falwell told a federal judge on March 28 that antiquated Virginia laws limiting churches' ability to expand are unconstitutional.
Falwell, who wants to combine his ministry, broadcasting network and other buildings into a "master-planned Christian ministry," sued state and local officials last November to overturn 18th-century laws that forbid it.
Since the founding of the country, Virginia has placed restrictions on churches to prevent them from becoming political entities. No church may own more than 15 acres of property in a city or town and 250 acres in any one county. Also, no church can receive a charter of incorporation from the state Legislature.
Virginia and West Virginia are the only states that ban incorporation by religious institutions, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.
Falwell's lawyer, Mathew Staver, told U.S. District Judge Norman K. Moon that after two centuries, such laws no longer protect the public from ambitious ministries. Rather, Staver said, the laws only single out people for their religious backgrounds and violate the First Amendment.
"It's unfair to place a limitation on someone because he's a minister," Staver said.
The ACLU is supporting Falwell in his lawsuit.
"I'd probably be for those laws if I lived back then," Falwell said after the hearing. "But they're antiquated. If we wanted to buy railroads or commercial buildings, that would be another matter."
In February, Moon dismissed four of the five defendants, leaving only State Corporation Commission Chairman Clinton Miller, whose agency issues charters of incorporation.
SCC lawyer Philip "Duke" de Haas said the agency was in the awkward position of defending state regulations it did not create.
"What the General Assembly has done, what the voters have decided — that's how we operate," he said.
De Haas told the judge that Miller should also be dismissed from the case because he had nothing to do with the Virginia restrictions. He also said Miller was constitutionally immune from litigation for official duties he performs for the state.
Moon did not indicate when he would rule.
Since Falwell opened Thomas Road Baptist Church in 1956, the church has grown to several thousand active members. His ministry owns 4,300 acres, including the campus of Liberty University, a youth camp and a retirement village.
The hope, Falwell said, is to someday include everything except Liberty in one corporation governed by the church deacons. But because of the state restrictions, Falwell's church cannot receive a charter of incorporation and the ministry is broken up under about a dozen mini-corporations run by separate boards of directors.
Falwell said he worries that a generation from now, those who operate the corporations may want to do something else rather than keep them together with his ministry.
"Who knows if 50 years from now those people will give the property back when the church needs it?"