This morning my contact who speaks on occasion with Bethel insiders (many are in WT Legal) gave me a quick call. He told me that he would have to be very careful what he shared because he didn't want to give himself away, but he did share this much:
Many of the attorneys at WT Legal are worried that they may have pushed the judge on the Lopez case too far by ignoring his orders and then appealing directly to higher courts. They are also worried that in future cases this approach may poison the well for them - even in cases that are relatively weak. One of his contacts indicated that this strategy may not have been encouraged by anyone in the legal team, but may have been determined by the GB or even Losch himself. The legal teams are afraid that they may be going into future cases with their guns empty and the plaintiffs attorneys ready to spring that fact (Watchtower refusal to obey court directives) to the court early in the procedings.
While appeal courts and the state supreme courts must rule on the merits of each case, the fact that the Catholic Church took a similar approach and lost badly (in California, very badly), the fact that the Watchtower has refused to respond to a judge's order will surely be recognized and expected as a strategy they will use in future cases. Whether this has any noticeable effect on the Conti appeal is unknown, and the court would certainly indicate that each case stands alone and has no effect on any other cases in their docket, for the future the Watchtower's "go f*** yourself - we answer to a higher law" response to court orders can not help them in the long run.
Looks like the Watchtower may be lining itself up for an early US Supreme Court appeal. They have done well there in the past and the current court tends to bend over backward to appease the religious wackos who appear before them (abortion, contraception, monuments, church use for secular activities, zoning laws, etc.). The only thing really working against them is the fact that they have few supporters within the Christian Right, with the possible exception of the Mormons and Scientology. They are also not political, so they can't help the Republican and Right Wing voting block even if they do win their case. The only reason the Christian Right would ever come to their aid is to enhance their own protections against lawsuits directed toward so many of their sect and mega-church leaders who have been involved in sexual deviance and child abuse cases. They may want to push this now before the court has a chance to become more Liberal leaning. Timing is everything.
They are watching and eagerly waiting to see how the California Appeals Court rules on Conti. That will be the standard that they will have to wrap their future strategies around.
My contact admits the most of his connections work outside of the child abuse cases loop, but they are on the fringes. Patterson is abuzz over the Lopez case and everyone there secretly peruses JWN, JWSurvey and Watchtower Documents. But never on the campus. They use only their own personal cell phones, pads, and laptops and only when they are away from WT HQ. Every email, upload, download and voicemail message transmitted there is being monitored 24 hours a day and IP addresses are being tracked. A few have two smartphones, one set aside for just this purpose.
A few have admitted that they feel like they are working inside the CIA, rather than a religious organization. No one really trusts anyone else. A few have have been burned badly by trusting the wrong person, someone who they were convinced was as reliable as they were. A few are seen packing up and being escorted to the travel vans every month. No one is ever sure why. Those who continue on are staying for shorter periods than was typical just ten or fifteen years ago. Looks like the average stay at one of the Bethel facilities has now fallen below the 24 month mark. There are also fewer younger volunteers. Many who are arriving are pioneers who have been in the field for several years and have held elder positions, with an average age well above 30.
In any case, this is all second and third hand - so take it with cup of salt. I am just the mail man. But it will be interesting to look back in 24 months and see how close this insider gossip came to predicting actual events.
