Citing the First Amendment’s mandate that civil courts not interfere in religious disputes, a state appeals panel has deemed “nonjusticiable” an ejectment action brought by a Russian Orthodox convent against a nun who was defrocked and ordered to vacate her convent home after she alleged that a resident priest was sexually harassing and abusing her.

The Appellate Division, Second Department 3-2 majority decision not to involve itself in the controversy leaves former nun Maria (Lydia) Sukharevskaya still living in her 8-foot-by-10-foot room at the Russian Orthodox Convent Novo-Diveevo in Nanuet, where she’s made her home since 1999, despite convent efforts dating back to 2006 to get her out.