Source: Religious News Service

http://www.cleveland.com/religion/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/living/109249021032460.xml

On August 14, 2004 Religious News Service reported, "A New York state judge has sided with the Greek Orthodox Church in a fight over its constitution, ruling that the court has no authority to interfere in an internal church dispute. State Supreme Court Justice Ira Gammerman on Aug. 6 dismissed a suit brought by lay activists that said the church's charter, or constitution, had been adopted improperly in a violation of state corporate law... The suit brought to the surface long-standing complaints from lay activists that they have been shut out of decision-making. They also accuse church leaders of bending to the will of Old World Orthodox leaders who have little tolerance for the American church's democratic impulses."