HI Kent: Sometime back I went through all the US Supreme Court cases involving the Society, as well as many US Circuit Court, State Supreme and Appellate Court cases. For example, the Society lost a case in Los Angeles, CA decades ago regarding taxation of its stored inventory of literature supplies in LA County. The Society simply moved their storage location. I don't recall any losses at those court levels.
Any cases they may have lost for defamation of character, liable, etc., civil liability in molestation and rape cases are likely ruled on at the Municipal, County Superior Courts, and lower State Courts. These cases are "not" generally available on line, and must be searched by letter and phone calls to each jurisdiction. There are thousands of lower courts, and the task in finding these cases is onerous.
The best way to do this would be for someone to coordinate an ex-JW from every county in the USA to look at cases in those counties. A trip to the County Courthouse visiting the Court Clerk's office would be fairly easy. In one trip the Court could produce a database list of any cases involving the WTS, and often these are few and may show the judgment. Then a copy could be ordered, and will cost anywhere from $10 to $30 or more, depending on the size of the case file. This would take some time, but could be done. The Coordinator could keep a list of every county in each state and check them off as any reports come in.
There will be some cases, perhaps many, where the matter was settled out of court, or where the case was sealed for some odd reason. These will remain undetermined, but the initial record will be there and should prove useful just knowing that it exist. In those cases, it will state the cause of action leading to the suit. The settlement or ruling will not be shown. Some cases will also be dismissed because the trail judge ruled it was with foundation, or that it was considered frivolus, or the Plaintiff may have dropped the suit in some cases. But even a record of these would prove useful just knowing the "scope" of actions considered.
Ongoing cases currently in progress will be at various court levels. We have the recent Ritzville, WA trial in the criminal phase, and later could become a civil suit if the victim chooses. We have the Maine case, still being appealed by the victim to the US Supreme Court, the Berry case in NH is just filed. There is a major case going on in New Jersey, another in Colorado, I think California and a few other states.
I will volunteer to coordinate and maintain the County data base. But I will need ex-JWs from every county, or at least an ex-JW who can access one or more counties to step up and offer to do some research. Hope this is somewhat helpful. - Amazing
