Investigative / judicial committees are a function of Brooklyn.

garybuss

The investigative committees and the judicial committees are a function of Brooklyn, not the congregations. The elders on the committees are appointed by headquarters, not the congregations. The elders on the committees report to headquarters, not the congregations.
The congregations do not appoint the members of the committees, the congregations do not convene a committee, and the congregations do not receive reports from the committee.
The congregations only hear of a few certain outcomes of the committee decisions, and then only in extreme abstract. The Society's untrained volunteers get detailed written reports from the committees.
The only people outside the committee who have access or input, are the paid full time workers, like the Circuit Overseer, and the Distinct Overseer, representing the Society.
The investigative and judicial actions are Society functions exclusively, never functions of the congregations.
The reason the judicial committees are located in the congregations, is the Society sees the congregations as a legal fire wall.
Am I wrong?

rosa

Gary,

I agree with your concerns. It's a good argument to my attorney.

kid-A

Gary,

I once "accidentally" accessed the filing cabinet in my old KH (someone had left the keys in the door!!! LOL). I was amazed at the size of the case files for each

single DFing case. Each "JC" report was located in its own manila folder, chock full of excruciating details about the "crimes" of the DFd individual, and included

the correspondence between the local BOE and Brooklyn. It seems (at least in Canada) that all dirty details are stored permanently in individual KHs in locked files. Do you

know if Brooklyn keeps copies of all of these individual cases in their central HQ?

Jourles

I know prior to my df'ing, the PO flat out told me that he called the service desk to find out how to proceed with my case. That's all well and good, but it was WT hq that sent the local elders a half-inch-thick care package concerning my online activites. You can't tell me that the elders worked my case on their own without any help or notice from bethel.

james_woods

Ancient History from an OldFart Warning Here!!!

However, back in the 1970's (both before and then after the "elder" reorg), my recollection is that the local committee was at first made up only of the Cong Servent, the Service Overseer, and the BookStudy Overseer. The committee could include other elders (even other congregation elders) if it was deemed necessary. I never saw one case where either the Circuit Overseer or Brooklyn was even consulted. We also only kept a simple DF letter with just the reason (in generic terms), date, etc. mentioned. No gory details were kept.

If things have gotton as pervasive as getting permission from the Service Department & Circuit Overseer, then there has been a big crack-down from the way I remember things...

James

garybuss

Interesting! So the Society has taken control of the judicial system over time. I wonder if the Society saw the benefits of owning the judicial system after they used the congregations to disfellowship Ray Franz and others during and after the purge of 1981.

I was never an elder (thankfully) and I quit associating in 1974, but I was not aware how INVOLVED the Society is in the judicial process and how UNINVOLVED the congregations are. The judicial process now is unquestioningly (to me) Society driven and Society managed.

When did it change?

Sheri

Garybuss, I think you hit the nail on the head with the firewall.

I recently had a friend that they tried to out by JC even though he had not been active in over a year and no longer living in same area as the congregation. He went to the meeting, got their full names and then proceeded to deny the charges and stated in writing that if they announced his name he would personally sue each and everyone of them and that his attorney had a copy of his letter of denial and circumstances. He has never heard back from them nor has it been announced as no longer a JW. Also told them to never contact him again.

I have a feeling when they contacted the Society they may have been told they are on their own as to legal actions and not going to have the Society to bail them out.

Peace,

Sheri

garybuss

The hunt down is a perfect example of the big business Watch Tower Corporation doing the actual hunt down. Here it is, hypothetical case: I quit attending meetings and move from South Dakota to Texas, live there for a year, and all of a sudden I'm contacted by two elders representing the Texas local congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses on an investigative mission, responding to a "complaint".

Who made the complaint? The South Dakota congregation? I'm not living in their territory and I don't have a relationship with them. I haven't been in South Dakota for a year.

Did the Texas congregation issue the complaint? No one there knows me. I never attended their congregation. I'm not associated in any way with the Texas congregation in any way. I don't even know where their real estate is located.

Who issued the complaint? I'm not affiliated with ANY congregations.

It HAD to be the Watch Tower Corporation. There aren't any other players who could recognize, investigate, and try a complaint.

What am I missing?

under_believer

Gary, everything you said is completely true.
What is your point, though?

garybuss

Does the Society acknowledge THEY manage and manipulate the congregation judicial processes? If they don't acknowledge it, can that fact be demonstrated? Is that demonstration useful to anybody? Interesting?

Maybe everybody knows how the Watch Tower judicial system of investigations and trials works.

Sometimes these topics actually stimulate "discussion" :-)

Investigative / judicial committees are a function of Brooklyn.

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