Late Corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. United States

The Late Corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. United States
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued January 16–18, 1889 Decided May 19, 1890
Full case name	The Late Corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints et al. v. United States; Romney et al. v. United States
Citations	136 U.S. 1 (more) 10 S. Ct. 792; 34 L. Ed. 478; 1890 U.S. LEXIS 2199
Prior history	Edmunds-Tucker Act provisions authorizing disincorporation of LDS Church upheld in U.S. v. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 5 Utah 361, 15 P. 473 (Utah.Terr. 1887). Appeal from the Supreme Court of the Utah Territory
Holding
Congress has supreme authority over territories, including power to dissolve the LDS Church's corporation and seize its property. Under parens patriae principals, congress may redirect assets to charitable purposes within Utah Territory. Property was properly not transferred to church members because they were using it to further outlawed polygamy.
Court membership
Chief Justice Melville Fuller Associate Justices Stephen J. Field · Joseph P. Bradley John M. Harlan · Horace Gray Samuel Blatchford · Lucius Q.C. Lamar II David J. Brewer
Case opinions
Majority	Bradley, joined by Harlan, Gray, Blatchford, Brewer
Dissent	Fuller, joined by Lamar, Field
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. I; Edmunds-Tucker Act

The Late Corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. United States, 136 U.S. 1 (1890) was a Supreme Court case that upheld the Edmunds-Tucker Act on May 19, 1890. Among other things, the act disincorporated The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).

Chief Justice Fuller's dissent asserted that though Congress has the power to criminalize polygamy, "it is not authorized under the cover of that power to seize and confiscate the property of persons, individuals, or corporations, without office found, because they may have been guilty of criminal practices."^[1]

The ruling in Late Corporation would have directed federal escheat of substantially all the property of the legally disincorporated LDS Church, which was estimated at $3 million. Following the decision, the U.S. Attorney for Utah Territory reported seizing only $381,812 in assets.^[2] Real property, including LDS temples, was never seized although the ruling authorized it. Within five months, the LDS Church officially discontinued the practice of plural marriage with the 1890 Manifesto. On October 25, 1893, a congressional resolution authorized the release of assets seized from the LDS Church because, "said church has discontinued the practice of polygamy and no longer encourages or gives countenance to any manner of practices in violation of law, or contrary to good morals or public policy."^[3]

See also

• Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act (1862)
• Poland Act (1874)
• Reynolds v. United States (1879)
• Edmunds Act (1882)
• Edmunds-Tucker Act (1887)
• 1890 Manifesto
• Smoot Hearings (1903–1907)
• Second Manifesto (1904)
• History of civil marriage in the U.S.
• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 136

References

1. ^ 136 U.S. 67 (1890)
2. ^ Paul G. Kauper & Stephen C. Ellis, "Religious Corporations and the Law," 71 Mich. L. Rev. (1972-1973), 1499, 1517. This figure includes seized stock and cash in bank accounts as well as $10,000 "credits due on sheep."
3. ^ Jt. Res 11., 53d Cong., 1st Sess., 28 Stat. 980

• U.S. Supreme Court Late Corporation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints v. United States, 136 U.S. 1 (1890).