U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia Story Archives

W.Va. Churches Now Eligible To Incorporate

Updated on Monday, September 30, 2024 at 3:40 p.m.

Churches and religious organizations in the Mountain State can now also operate as businesses, following a Thursday decision from the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia.

The federal court ruled that a clause of the West Virginia Constitution prohibiting churches and religious bodies from incorporating violates the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, which protects the “free exercise” of religion.

Incorporation is the process of registering a business with the state government as a legal and financial entity. Corporations have central management and are owned by shareholders who are “not personally liable for the obligations of the company,” according to the West Virginia Secretary of State Business Division.

West Virginia was the only state in the nation that prohibited churches from incorporating, according to the district court. Virginia had a similar provision in its constitution until 2002, when a separate district court ruled the policy unconstitutional.

The district court’s memorandum opinion and order released last week said the West Virginia secretary of state “began issuing certificates of incorporation to churches” after the 2002 decision, despite being prohibited under state law. According to Michael Queen, deputy chief of staff and director of communications for the secretary of state’s office, the practice was followed through three different secretary of state tenures, resulting in the registration of more than 400 religious groups as nonprofit corporations in West Virginia.

The court said this practice continued until 2022, when a ballot measure to remove the policy from the West Virginia Constitution was voted down by the public.

“After the majority of voters voted down the proposed amendment, and given the previously cited constitutional language, there was no longer an arguable potential for exercising discretion when interpreting the incorporation prohibition, and our office stopped accepting corporate filings from churches and religious organizations to form nonprofit corporations,” Queen wrote in a Monday email to West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

The state then continued to refuse applications to incorporate from churches until a complaint was filed by Hope Community Church, located in the Berkeley County town of Hedgesville. The church did not respond to phone call or email requests for comment on this story.

The West Virginia secretary of state filed an answer to this complaint, after which the church filed a motion for judgment from the court. This gave the district court the opportunity to review the provision in the state’s constitution, which it ultimately deemed unconstitutional.

“West Virginia’s prohibition on the incorporation of churches is neither neutral nor generally applicable because it denies incorporation to a defined class of individuals solely based upon their religion,” read the decision. “Every other group in West Virginia may apply for incorporation, but members of ‘any church or religious denomination’ are uniquely prohibited from incorporating the organizations to which they belong.”

Queen said the court’s decision took effect immediately upon release.

“The staff in the West Virginia secretary of state’s office has been made aware of this judicial directive,” Queen wrote. West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner “has indicated that we will no longer reject applications for incorporation by churches or religious organizations.”

Queen wrote that he has not personally seen any requests to incorporate from churches since the decision was released Thursday. Any religious groups interested in registering would file an application with the secretary of state’s office including articles of incorporation and a 501(c)(3) statement from the Internal Revenue Service, he wrote.

Queen also said Warner has no plans to appeal the court’s decision.

View the full text of the court decision here:

Memo opinion and Order – Granting Pltf’s mot for judg on pleadings Download

**Editor’s note: This story was updated to include comment from Michael Queen, deputy chief of staff and director of communications for the West Virginia secretary of state’s office.

Messer Agrees To Pay EPA $1.9 Million Over Water Pollution Violations

The EPA and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection found that the company exceeded its discharge permits for copper, aluminum, iron and residual chlorine at its facility in New Cumberland.

A Northern Panhandle industrial and medical gas manufacturer has agreed to pay a civil penalty for water pollution violations.

Under a consent decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Messer LLC has agreed to pay a $1.9 million penalty for violations of the federal Clean Water Act.

Messer is required to construct a new water treatment system to eliminate those violations and monitor stormwater to ensure future compliance.

The public has 30 days to comment on the consent decree prior to approval from the federal district court for the Northern District of West Virginia.

The EPA and the state DEP, as co-plaintiffs in the consent decree, will split the penalty.

Sentences Handed Down In Toebbe Espionage Case

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia handed down sentences Wednesday against Navy submarine engineer Jonathan Toebbe and his wife Diana as part of a federal treason case involving the alleged attempt to sell secrets about nuclear-powered submarines to a foreign government.

Prosecutors say Jonathan Toebbe used his position and access to top-secret government information to sell documents regarding the design and performance of Virginia-class submarines. Diana Toebbe acted as a lookout at “dead-drop” locations where memory cards with the info were left. These cards were hidden in items like chewing gum wrappers and peanut butter sandwiches, which were then exchanged for cryptocurrency as payment.

The U.S. government has since recovered $54,300 of the $100,000 paid to the Toebbes.

Jonathan was sentenced to 19 years and four months in prison, alongside a fine of $45,700, with the court recommending he be placed in a federal facility in Petersburg, Virginia.

Diana was sentenced to 21 years and 10 months in prison, alongside a fine of $50,000. The court recommended she be placed in a federal facility near Annapolis, Maryland.

The sentences come after a plea agreement made by the Toebbes when they re-admitted guilt in September.

Diana’s final sentence is much higher than what was suggested by both her legal team and the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO), which was at the “low end” of recommended sentencing guidelines at only 36 months.

This is in part because of letters that regional jail staff and government officials intercepted from Diana to Jonathan while incarcerated, attempting to persuade him to admit total guilt while clearing her of any wrongdoing.

District Judge Gina M. Groh called the content of these letters “obstruction of justice” and an attempt to coerce Jonathan into perjury, while the USAO and Toebbe’s lawyers cited mental health issues, unique circumstances and the fact that the letters did not make it to Jonathan as reasons they should not have been taken into consideration during her sentencing.

Jonathan received a slightly lighter sentence, in part because of what Groh cited as his “conduct as opposed to Mrs. Toebbe” while incarcerated at the West Virginia Eastern Regional Jail, helping tutor his fellow inmates in math and grammar.

The couple previously pleaded guilty in February after being arrested in October of last year in Jefferson County. They withdrew their pleas after the initial agreement was rejected in August. At the time, Groh ruled that the sentencing options were “strikingly deficient.”

Under the previous agreement, Jonathan Toebbe would have seen 12 to 17 years in prison. Diana Toebbe would have seen three.

New Plea Agreement Reached In Toebbe Submarine Case

A federal treason case against Navy submarine engineer Jonathan Toebbe and his wife Diana continued Tuesday morning in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia in Martinsburg. The two have entered a new plea agreement.

The case involves the Toebbes allegedly trying to sell secrets about nuclear-powered submarines to a foreign government.

The couple previously pleaded guilty in February after being arrested in October of last year in Jefferson County. They withdrew their pleas after the initial agreement was rejected last month. At the time, District Judge Gina M. Groh ruled that the sentencing options were “strikingly deficient.”

The most recent plea hearing saw the Toebbes re-admit guilt for a new agreement that involves what the prosecution called a “sentence within the case’s applicable guidelines.” The maximum punishment could mean life in prison for the couple and a $100,000 fine, though prosecutors are seeking the “low end” of the punishment in Diana’s case.

The binding terms are less concrete than the previous plea agreement, but make the sentencing more in line with federal advisory guidelines. Under the previous agreement, Jonathan Toebbe would have seen 12 to 17 years in prison. Diana Toebbe would have seen 3.

An email sent to West Virginia Public Broadcasting from the United States Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of West Virginia says the exact guideline sentencing range for each defendant “will not be determined until the completion of the U.S. Probation Office pre-sentence investigation.”

The sentencing hearing for both defendants is also yet to be scheduled. A previous trial date was set for Jan. 17 after the initial plea agreement was rejected.

Trial Date Set After Judge Rejects Plea Agreement For Submarine Secrets Case

A trial date has been set after former Naval engineer Jonathan Toebbe and his wife, Diana Toebbe, withdrew their guilty pleas in a case last week involving the selling of secrets about American nuclear submarines.

The couple withdrew their pleas after Judge Gina M. Groh of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia in Martinsburg rejected both of their previous plea agreements. The defendants pleaded guilty in February after being arrested in October of last year in Jefferson County.

The federal court said it could not accept the plea agreements both because of the nature of the crime and the fact that federal advisory guidelines suggest a sentence higher than what the court could impose.

A release said, “although the court generally honors plea agreements negotiated by the parties, the court found the sentencing options available strikingly deficient in this case.”

The document from the federal court also calls the act a “conspiracy to communicate restricted data” which was done for “selfish and greedy reasons … that could have easily caused harm to the Navy, the United States, and even the world.”

Trial dates for the two defendants have been set as a result. The pretrial hearing will be held Jan. 12, 2023 at 9:30 a.m.

The jury trial will be held five days later, on Jan. 17, at 9:00 a.m.