By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor
NEW ORLEANS (LBM) – Attorney Michelle Stratton filed an amicus brief, Nov. 7, with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in the ongoing lawsuit of McRaney v. NAMB on behalf of “current and former Baptist leaders” in response to “a profound misunderstanding of Baptist polity” that she argues led to the dismissal of the case by Judge Glen H. Davison of the U.S. District Court in Northern Mississippi.
LOUISIANA BAPTIST TIES
Stratton is the former Michelle Shamblin who graduated summa cum laude from Louisiana College (2006) and summa cum laude from the Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center (2009), according to her online profile. Additionally, she clerked for the Honorable Edith Jones of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (2009-2010); served as a Bristow Fellow in the Office of the Solicitor General of the United States (2010-2011); and was a law clerk to Associate Justice Clarence Thomas with the U.S. Supreme Court (2011-2012).
She is a partner with Smyser, Kaplan and Veselka, which is described by various law websites as a Houston-based “litigation boutique” that enjoys a “big trial firm reputation” from its success in complex civil and criminal cases.
Her father, Mike Shamblin, is pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Lake Charles.
BACKGROUND
Will McRaney, former executive director of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware, alleges that the North American Mission Board interfered in his employment with the state convention, resulting in his termination. He also claims that NAMB subsequently attempted to block him from securing other employment opportunities.
On Aug. 15, Davison ruled for a second time that proceeding with the lawsuit would force the court “to inquire into religious matters and decision-making to a degree that is simply impermissible under the Constitution and the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine.”
McRaney responded Oct. 31, by filing an appeal to the 5th…
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