Per A-1914's request, set forth is the following information regarding JWs' and the Supreme Court as well as all Federal and State Courts wherein JWs cases have been made cited.
I performed a search from 1940 thru the present. 77 hits showed cases pending before the Supreme Court between 1940 and 2006 that addressed issues directly related to JWs or citing prior case law involving JWs. I was unable to search anything past 1940, as said search was deemed too expensive to pursue.
History on the court is "The Court's case load has increased steadily to a current total of more than 7,000 cases on the docket per Term. The increase has been rapid in recent years. In 1960, only 2,313 cases were on the docket, and in 1945, only 1,460. Plenary review, with oral arguments by attorneys, is granted in about 100 cases per Term. Formal written opinions are delivered in 80-90 cases. Approximately 50-60 additional cases are disposed of without granting plenary review. The publication of a Term's written opinions, including concurring opinions, dissenting opinions, and orders, approaches 5,000 pages. Some opinions are revised a dozen or so more times before they are announced." In other words, the Supreme Court does not take every case that is sent up for petition. Said information can be found at www.supremecourtus.gov/ Additionally, an individual is able to perform a limited search on this site and will also pull up documents/cases involving JWs.
Within the Federal case search parameters, 1106 hits appeared. I did not read each and every case that either involved JWs or the WTBTS or that cited prior cases involving JWs or the WTBTS. Within the Lower Court case search parameters 1041 hits appeared. Again, I did not read all the cases that either involved JWs or the WTBTS.
Should anyone wish to have a copy of the list of those Supreme Court cases specifically involving JWs, please PM me and I will gladly provide a copy of same. Of the 77 cases, I read approximately 30, as the remaining cases were relying upon prior rulings involving JWs and in turn, and it did not seem to fit the criteria of the requested search.
It appears that some have taken issue with my prior statements and requested backup, I again would be more then happy to provide what I found. Please note that I have printed out the case law referenced above and will provide it, at each individual's own expense, as I have already gone to expense to do a search and print out the case law (which again is available to the public via a search engine such as Lexis or Westlaw).
As for the readings of authors' works, most of those are open to the reader's interpretation. I am not saying that I think Schnell is a liar. The thing that always makes me wonder is how much of a book is reality based and how much is clouded by anger or shaded in such a way as to draw in the reader.
