...from the full penalty should they be sued for participating in a felony.

AP Wire Stories

The court ruled that holding a court liable for the psychological damages resulting from falsely imprisoning and assaulting a person would have unconstitutional chilling effects upon churches.

Chilling effects I can only imagine, such as compelling churches not to commit felonies in the first place. I cannot imagine the slightest legal standing in this case, the church broke the law and in doing so caused significant physical and emotional distress to an individual. Freedom of religion is not an excuse for churches to trample on the rights of individuals. Should they ignore that they should be subject to the law same as everyone else, not given special treatment because they thought they were doing gods work.