Why the Watchtower Can't Drop Its Appeal

by Diest 19 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

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  Diest

  I don't think the society can afford to drop this appeal.

  1. If they loose their appeal it opens them up to huge amounts of liability. They need the courts to come down on their side of the clergy-penitent confidentiality issue. They also need the court to rule that they cant be held liable for the actions of a member who held no position of authority at the time of the incident.

  2. They can get a bond or get court approval to move most of their assets.

  3. They need the appeals to go on long enough to empty most of the funds from the WTS of NY and put them into the WTS of PA corporation. They need to do this before the appeals process is done to prevent other victims/lawyers from becoming embolden by the success of the Conti case if/when they win their appeals. The WTS of NY holds the liability for cases from the 70s-90s which are the cases where they have the most exposure. If they make WTS of NY insolvent then there will be no money to pay the victims for the cases during those years. They did not start to change any of their policies until 99-02ish(I might have my dates wrong) The liability is still there for the cases under the WTS of PA but it is greatly diminished because that had taken some actions, and they time frame was shorter.

  4. They need this win bad. They are not used to being loosers. The average JW is not used to seeing them loose in court. Rightly or wrongly they will fight this case all the way to the SCOTUS in order to let 'Jehovah prevail.'
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  Diest

  Bump.
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  james_woods

  I believe you are correct on all counts.

  I also believe they will quietlly settle this out of court (if possible) and try to obtain a gag order as they have in the past.
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  Diest

  I hope Candice sticks to her guns. She didnt want to settle. She wants to see the policies of the WTS change and she was willing to fight for that.
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  Giordano

  Your reasoning is excellant but they have more to lose going forward. A settlement if possible will be better for the WTBTS. I think we are experiencing a major sea change with these cases:

  "PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Monsignor William Lynn was found guilty on Friday of one count of endangering the welfare of a child, making him the highest-ranking U.S. Roman Catholic official convicted in the church child sex abuse scandal.
  
  The jury acquitted Lynn, who oversaw hundreds of priests in the Philadelphia Archdiocese, on two other counts.
  
  The jury deliberated 13 days before reaching a decision in the trial of Lynn, 61, who for 12 years served as secretary of the clergy. Lynn faces up to seven years in prison on the child endangerment conviction."

  Wonder how closely the WTBTS is following this case?
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  james_woods

  Wonder how closely the WTBTS is following this case?

  You can be quite sure their lawyers are - and that they probably need to change their shorts by now.
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  cedars

  Yes, I agree that the bond route is the option they will take.

  I hadn't considered it when I started my thread.

  Cedars
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  Diest

  I have no real knowledge of this but I think the most important part is that they need time to empty the WTS of NY. Just my intuition.
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  Diest

  I was not trying to be contrary with this thread. I just love following law. I have taken quite a few clases about law and although I dont know much I know enough to see the writing on the wall.
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  MidwichCuckoo

  I also believe they will quietlly settle this out of court (if possible) and try to obtain a gag order as they have in the past.

  I'd have thought it's a tad late for that.