Yet throughout the '80s and '90s, bishops who sought to penalize and dismiss abusive priests were daunted by a bewildering bureaucratic and canonical legal process, with contradicting laws and overlapping jurisdictions in Rome, according to church documents and interviews with bishops and canon lawyers.
However, laws passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom still had force in Australia, and laws passed by Australian parliaments would be invalid if they contradicted United Kingdom laws (the doctrine of repugnancy).
This month, sheriffs from Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas filed a lawsuit claiming that Colorado's marijuana law creates a "crisis of conscience" for law enforcers by forcing them to uphold state law that contradicts federal laws.
Defense attorneys argue that there is an "equal justice disparity" created by federal drug laws that contradict state laws.
Some lawmakers suggested on Wednesday that the synod vote would create a crisis of church-state relations, since the rejection of female bishops contradicted national laws on gender equality.
It is ridiculous to sue the president on a Wednesday because he oversteps the law, as he has done a dozen times illegally and unconstitutionally, and then on a Thursday say that he should overstep the law, contradict the law that passed in 2008 and deal with this himself.
Two years later, the Earl of Oxford's Case came before Ellesmere, who issued a judgment that directly contradicted English law based on the "Law of God".
The family's attorneys argue that there is an "equal justice disparity" created by federal drug laws that directly contradict state laws in Washington, where medical marijuana has been legal for well over a decade.
The only way around confusing, harsh state laws that contradict federal law, Mark Rogers said, is for Congress to legalize the substance.
Critics said it contradicted canon law and did not give accused priests due process.
