Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. Wisan, 773 F. Supp. 2d 1217

Background

Plaintiffs are about 5,000 FLDS members challenging state reform of the United Effort Plan Trust (UEP Trust).
The UEP Trust originated in 1942 to live the United Order; a 1998 amendment expanded beneficiaries to all FLDS members and recast the Trust as a religious and charitable instrument.
Utah state courts suspended trustees in 2005 and appointed a Special Fiduciary (Bruce Wisan) to manage and defend the Trust against tort lawsuits.
In 2005–2006, state courts considered reform proposals; in 2006 the Trust was reformed into a 175-paragraph instrument with expanded secular control under neutral principles of law.
Plaintiffs filed federal suit in October 2008 seeking constitutional relief; after stays and settlements, Utah Supreme Court ruled laches in 2010, and this court subsequently issued a TRO leading to a preliminary injunction in December 2010.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Establishment Clause violation by state reform of the Trust	Lender/FLDS argue state rewrote a religious instrument.	State acted under neutral principles to secularize administration.	Yes; state action violated Establishment Clause.
Free Exercise implications of the state’s actions	State reform eliminated religiously guided administration of Trust.	General law applied; no targeted religious burden.	Plaintiffs’ Free Exercise claims appear substantially likely to succeed.
Jurisdiction and standing of the federal suit	Plaintiffs have Article III standing; Ex parte Young permits prospective relief.	Defendants challenged various doctrines but not standing.	Court has jurisdiction; standing shown; relief not foreclosed by defenses.
Effect of laches and res judicata on this federal action	Utah Supreme Court laches does not preclude federal action; merits considered.	Laches/res judicata precludes relief.	Utah laches not a merits-based preclusion; not precluded here.

Key Cases Cited

Everson v. Board of Education, 330 U.S. 1 (U.S. 1947) (Establishment Clause applicability to states via Fourteenth Amendment)
McCollum v. Board of Education, 333 U.S. 203 (U.S. 1948) (Public school release-time program violated Establishment Clause)
Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (U.S. 1962) (School-sponsored prayer violated Establishment Clause)
Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984) (Creche display analyzed under Establishment Clause)
Wolman v. Walter, 433 U.S. 229 (U.S. 1977) (Funding for secular purposes in religious schools allowable)
Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602 (U.S. 1971) (Three-prong Lemon test for Establishment Clause)
Jones v. Wolf, 443 U.S. 595 (U.S. 1979) (Neutral principles/structure to resolve church property disputes)
Day v. Wiswall’s Estate, 381 P.2d 217 (Ariz. 1963) (Laeche preclusion and merits considerations in res judicata)
FLDS v. Lindberg, 238 P.3d 1054 (Utah 2010) (Utah laches standard considering merits and prejudice)
O’Connor v. Washburn University, 416 F.3d 1216 (10th Cir. 2005) (Religion clauses and interpretation in the Tenth Circuit)
Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38 (U.S. 1985) (Moment of silence/prayer in schools as Establishment Clause context)
Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, 536 U.S. 639 (U.S. 2002) (Voucher program analysis for Establishment Clause)
Lee v. Weisman, 505 U.S. 577 (U.S. 1992) (Prayer at graduation and Establishment Clause concerns)
Santa Fe Independent School Dist. v. Doe, 530 U.S. 290 (U.S. 2000) (Student-led prayer at school event and Establishment Clause)
Trunk v. City of San Diego, 629 F.3d 1099 (9th Cir. 2011) (Cross on public property and Establishment Clause)