Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/888

* CIVIL CHURCH LAW. 783 CIVIL DEATH. by giving to each all that is asked. The early concept of religious organization in American law was naturally that of a simple and com- pletely autonomous local society. To denomina- tions whose type of polity forresponds to tliis concept, the legislation of the general statute era was satisfactory. The special optional ])ro- visions have, therefore, been etiaoted as a rule for the benefit of cliurches having polities by which the local bodies sustain definite relations to some more general autliority, such as synod- ical and episcopal churches. At the present time, twenty-five distinct denominations have been thus specially legislated for. American religious corporations are not ecclesiastical cor- porations in the sense of the English law, but are merely private corporations not for profit. The constituent elements of these corporations vary all the way from the total number of church members to the corporation sole: as, for example, a presiding elder, bishop, or archbishop. The Prixcii'le.s of Civil Church L.w. In the course of the adjudication of the many causes that have arisen from ecclesiastical mat- ters, the civil courts have developed the follow- ing as the basic principles of American civil Church law: (1) All ecclesiastical relations are voluntary, both in their inception and continua- tion. (2) The freedom of action for the pur- poses of religion is guaranteed to every one by the organic law. and is limited by the same law by the civil rights of others, and by all that is necessary for tbe purpose and good order of the State and for the protection of public morals. (3) Xo civil right can. in the eyes of tbe law, be impaired by an ecclesiastical relation. (4) The law of the land is a part of the law of the churches. (5) Xo law of the churches, when it is found to be in conflict with the law of the land, has any validity. (6) The civil courts are open for the adjudication of ecclesiastical causes when civil rights are involved. (7) The civil courts, wlien they assume jurisdiction of a cause, will accept the decisions of ecclesiastical tribu- nals, if such tribunals act according to the Church law, and do not exceed their jurisdiction. (8) The authority of the civil courts over all religious organizations is secured by the same means as in the ease of private persons and secu- lar organizations: judgments, decrees, and the issue of the writs of maTidamus, information in the nature of quo warranto, prohibition, and in- junction. (9) The principles of the hiw of charitable uses and of trusts, as modified liy statute, are ai)]ilied to ))roi)erty devoted to the purposes of religion. (10) The American clergy- man, from the standpoint of the law, is a volun- tary member of the association to which be be- longs. The station is not forced upon him : he seeks it. He accepts it with all its consequences, and with all the rules and laws and canons then subsisting or to be made by competent au- thority. Such laws cannot, in any event, en- danger his life or liberty, ini])nir any of his per- sonal rights, deprive him of property acquired under the laws, or interfere with the free exer- cise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship; for these are protected by the constitu- tions and laws. The results of .merican rivil Church law may be summed up in the language of the Supreme Court of the United States, in the ca.se of Wat- son vs. Jones, 13 Wall. U. S., 639, as follows: "In this country, the full and free right to en- tertain any religious belief, to practice any re- ligious princiiile, and to teach any religious doctrine, which does not violate the laws of morality and property, and which does not in- fringe personal rights, is conceded to all. The law knows no heresy, is committed to the sup- port of no dogma, the establishment of no sect." It is these princijilcs of civil Cliurch law that are to govern in all the relations of the civil power and the churches beyond the confines of the United States — in the insular possessions of the Hawaiian Islands, Porto Rico, and the Phili]i])ines. CIVIL-DAMAGE ACTS. Statutes which have been passed in many of the United Slates, giving to those who sustain an actual injury by or through any intoxicated person, as a result of the intoxication, a right of action against the person who sold or gave away the liquor which caused the intoxication. In some States, this lia- bility lias been extended to the owner of the premises wliere the liquor was dispensed ; and it is immaterial whether the liquor business is lawful in the particular jurisdiction or not. These statutes include injuries to pei-son or property of any one, and loss of support, by wife or child, of a drunkard. Exemplar,>- or jiunitive diunages are allowed in some cases, but actual injury must also be proved. Where one in any way helps to bring about the intoxication, he cannot recover. These statutes have been held constitutional, being within the "jiolice power' of the States under which the liquor trallic is regulated. See Temper-xce: Police Powek; Prouibitiox. CIVIL DEATH (Lat. mors cimlis). The status of a living jicrson who is deprived by law of his legal and civil rights. The term is of feudal origin, and was intro- duced into the English law after the Norman Conquest. At that time civil death was one of the consequences of treason, banishment from the realm, abjuration of the realm (,by which a crim- inal eseajied other punishment by leaving the country forever), fehiny, and the act of entering upon a mon.astic life as a monk or nun; and in all of these cases, except felony, there was a total extinction of all civil rights, including loss of real and personal property, as if the person were jihys- ically dead. To a'oid the etl'ect of this, convey- ances frequently made grants of estates for the 'natural life' of a person ; and this phrase is used to-day in creating life estates, although the original reason for inserting the word "natural' has ceased. Treason and :ibjuration of the realm involved forfeiture of jiropcrty to the Crown as a ])en;ilty; but one taking monastic vows could make a will and appoint an executor to atbninis- ter his estate. In the United States, generally, civil death can occur only as the result of a sentence of im- prisonment for lite; but the doctrine is modified, so that there is only a partial extinction of the convict's rights, as in the New York statute pro- viding that a sentence of life imprisonment shall oper:ite as an absolute divorce of the felon from wife or husband ; and in no case does his prop- erty descend to his heirs, as under the early law of England. The English law has also been greatly modified by statutes iind decisions. For an annotation on civil death in the United