Posted on 02/20/2017 4:13:09 PM PST by PAR35
Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Vestavia Hills is trying to establish its own police force.
The move requires approval from state lawmakers. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Arnold Mooney (R-Shelby County) cleared its first major hurdle Wednesday. The House Public Safety Committee gave its OK.
(Excerpt) Read more at abc3340.com ...
Hi Mary. Hope your blood disorder is under control and all is well.
A church having state bestowed police powers? No, absolutely not, sorry. That’s textbook establishment of religion. I understand why they want and possibly even need it, but it’s not constitutional.
They can accomplish their goal with a private security force, just without legal authority of arrest and imprisonment. Private security can detain until legal authorities arrive. That will work just fine and not violate the constitution.
They can accomplish their goal with a private security force, just without legal authority of arrest and imprisonment. Private security can detain until legal authorities arrive. That will work just fine and not violate the constitution.
another question worth asking: who's authority would this police force be under? The Brairwood Church session? ("session" == elder board, in presbyterianese.) Do they want, and can they handle that responsibility? What happens if and when they get sued over the behaviour of "their police"?
To my understanding, if they’re bestowed full police authority, there would in most case be sovereign immunity, with the exception of instances of abuse in which case they could be successfully sued.
I don’t want any church of any kind to have sovereign immunity in this country, ever.
All is well, irregardless [sic] of my blood disorder.
As to that, the white cells are normal (yay and finally!), the platelets are normal. That is a definite change from the last 10 years. But the exhaustion I’m experiencing makes me think I’ve lost a few red blood cells.
I promised myself that I will maintain a regular schedule of checking and unless something major changes, I won’t run back and forth to labs and check every little thing. So, I won’t find out more until early May.
This is a chronic thing. I’ve had it for at least 10 years and so will be slow in healing. The doc doesn’t often see healing.
Thanks for asking.
Thanks. I’m usually not too active on the Religion board. My “getting in trouble per hundred posts” ratio is much higher here than on the political boards.
Yes, but most of them pronounce the 'g'.
We can add this to the differences between the PCA and the OPC - most OPC churches aren’t big enough to need their own police department.
Thanks.
I would have guessed wrong on the Sovereign Immunity defense. In Georgia, at least “ We agree that, under the facts of this case, the police officers were entitled to immunity.” AGNES SCOTT COLLEGE v. HARTLEY No. A12A1989. Decided: March 29, 2013 http://caselaw.findlaw.com/ga-court-of-appeals/1626937.html
“In the Campus Policemen Act, OCGA § 20–8–1, et seq., the legislature defines campus policemen as employees of educational facilities and vests campus policemen who have been certified as peace officers with “the same law enforcement powers, including the power of arrest, as a law enforcement officer of the local government with police jurisdiction over such campus.” OCGA § 20–8–2. That Act defines a “campus policeman” not as an employee who owes a duty solely to the private institution that employs him, but rather as an officer “whose duties include the enforcement of the laws of this [S]tate; the preservation of public order; the protection of life and property; the prevention, detection, or investigation of crime; or any combination thereof.” OCGA § 20–8–1(2).
“Construing OCGA § 50–21–22(7) with the Campus Policemen Act, OCGA § 20–8–1, et seq.,1 demonstrates the General Assembly’s intent to include law enforcement officers employed by private colleges and universities within the definition of “State officer[s] and employee[s]” who are granted immunity under the GTCA because it imbues them with the power to do what is necessary to enforce the laws of this State and imposes upon them a duty to enforce State law and to investigate any violation thereof. When a campus policeman exercises his statutorily authorized “law enforcement powers” within his defined jurisdiction “[o]n the campus of an educational facility,” OCGA § 20–8–2, then necessarily, he is “acting on behalf of or in service of the [S]tate in an [ ] official capacity,” and hence, he is a state officer under OCGA § 50–21–22(7).”
:)
LOL! That’s for sure!
We can add this to the differences between the PCA and the OPC - most OPC churches aren’t big enough to need their own police department.
Maybe the whole OPC, all put together. :-)
Don’t sell them short. They are more than 3 times the size of the largest PCA church. And unlike it, they speak English.
We’ll see how things shake out when the PCA splits.
This whole episode doesn’t sit right with me. The PCAers I have known would not want to mix a state certified law enforcement presence with the jurisdiction of their own session.
There’s more thank meets the eye here. Worth following.
We’ll see how things shake out when the PCA splits.
What do you see coming?
Let’s see what the committee for the ordination of women reports back this summer, and then I’ll be able to give you a straight answer. Unordained deaconesses (the practice, but not the rule at this point) and a few conservatives will leave. No deaconesses, and a small group of liberals will leave. Ordained women deacons, and a fair sized minority of conservatives will leave. A path toward ordained women REs, and buy the popcorn.
The conservatives aren’t as well organized as they were in the PCUS in the late 60s - early 70s, as the property provision has provided a safety valve for bleeding off the most conservative folks and leaving the moderates firmly in the driver’s seat.
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