ST. PAUL'S POLISH NATIONAL CATHOLIC CHURCH
v.
ERIC A. HILT, AS AGENT FOR SUSAN HILT, AND MARK J. NIZNIK
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A trial court's discovery order compelling disclosure of church membership lists is deficient when it fails to make judicial determinations regarding the organization's incorporation status and fails to address and make specific findings concerning asserted First Amendment associational privilege.
[1] A trial court must make a judicial determination regarding a disputed issue of incorporation status when that status is a basis for compelling discovery.
[2] A trial court must address and make specific findings concerning a party's asserted claim of associational privilege under the First Amendment when such a claim is raised…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceSt. Paul's Polish National Catholic Church sought certiorari review of a trial court's amended discovery order that compelled the church to identify m…
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HARRIS, J.
Petitioner, St. Paul’s Polish National Catholic Church (“St. Paul’s”), has petitioned this Court for a writ of certiorari seeking to quash the trial court’s amended discovery order which compels it to identify church members and produce records of membership lists. We agree with St. Paul’s that the trial court’s amended order is deficient because the court failed to make a judicial determination concerning St. Paul’s incorporation status, which was a disputed issue below that goes directly to the heart of one of the stated bases for compelling disclosure. In addition, we further find that the amended order is inadequate because the trial court failed to address and make specific findings concerning St. Paul’s asserted claim of associational privilege provided by the First Amendment. Resolution of these issues by the trial court is essential for meaningful appellate review. See Nemours Found. v. Arroyo, 262 So. 3d 208, 211 (Fla. 5th DCA 2018); State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Knapp, 234 So. 3d 843, 848 (Fla. 5th DCA 2018); Dismas Charities, Inc. v. Dabbs, 795 So. 2d 1038 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001).
Accordingly, we grant St. Paul’s amended petition for certiorari, quash the trial court’s amended discovery order without prejudice, and remand the matter to the trial court for further consideration.
PETITION GRANTED; ORDER QUASHED; REMANDED for further proceedings.
WALLIS and SOUD, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Knapp, 234 So. 3d 843 (Fla. 5th DCA 2018)
- Dismas Charities, Inc. v. Dabbs, 795 So. 2d 1038 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001)
- The Nemours Found. v. Arroyo, 262 So. 3d 208 (Fla. 5th DCA 2018)