( February 24, 2026, 10:53 AM EST) -- WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 23 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a former director of a general mission board of a regional cooperative missions and ministry organization seeking a ruling on church autonomy decisions after a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel majority upheld dismissal of a defamation lawsuit he filed against the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention Inc. (NAMB)....