…ECUSA argued, Bishop Lawrence should have been prevented, by the doctrine of “judicial estoppel,” from so changing course and citing All Saints as a precedent to Judge Goodstein. Instead, they contended, he was required to stick to the same old arguments his predecessor had made before the South Carolina Supreme Court’s 2009 ruling.
Except — their argument overlooked one small but highly significant detail: as a decision by the State’s highest court, All Saints Waccamaw is binding on all churches similarly situated — including specifically, the Episcopal Church which had lost its argument to that Court — and on all lower courts in South Carolina.