Ga. Supreme Court disallows college’s break from convention

by Staff                                                                                                     Vol. XVIII, No. 6, June/July 2005

The Georgia Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision May 23, upheld a Georgia Court of Appeals ruling that Shorter College’s actions to sever ties with the Georgia Baptist Convention be set aside as outside the bounds of state corporate law. A DeKalb County Superior Court judge, in April 2003, had allowed Shorter to dissolve and transfer its assets to the newly formed Shorter College Foundation Inc., thus discontinuing the Georgia Baptist Convention’s selection of the college’s trustees. [Note: Liberal trustees were trying to remove Shorter College from control of the newly conservative Georgia state Baptist convention. TCP]

In March 2004, a three-judge panel of the Georgia Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the convention’s appeal. Shorter then took the case to the Georgia Supreme Court.

The Georgia Supreme Court ruling focused on “issues dealing with nonprofit corporate law and the fiduciary duties of nonprofit directors,” convention attorney Walter Bush said. “This case allowed the court to address those concerns.” [BP]