Posts by Richard Oliver

48

Disfellowshipping decision to go before Canadian Supreme Court

by Simon in

high court will examine whether judicial review applies to membership decisions made by religious groups.

the supreme court of canada has agreed to hear an appeal involving a calgary man who was kicked out of his jehovah's witness church.. randy wall, a real estate agent was "disfellowshipped" from the highwood congregation for being drunk on two occasions and allegedly verbally abusing his wife.. as a result, he says his clients refused to do further business with him, so he argued his property and civil rights were affected.. after losing three internal church appeals of his expulsion, wall made an application with the court of queen's bench in calgary which ordered a hearing to first determine if there was jurisdiction for the court to hear the application.. decisions and appeals.

a judge decided the superior court did have jurisdiction to hear the application.. the church then appealed wall's decision to the alberta court of appeal, which upheld the court of queen's bench, affirming the court has jurisdiction to hear the matter.. one of the three appeal court judges dissented — arguing that congregations are private organizations akin to bridge clubs, whose decisions "are not enforceable promises and have limited, if any, impact outside its small circle.".

Richard Oliver

I have been looking at the lawsuits in the US that relate to something like this. Obviously, it is two different laws between the US and Canada. The US is pretty strict that a court cannot intervene in a religious decision, it is called ecclesiastical abstention, it was created by the Supreme Court in the 1970s. A civil court can hear cases that enter into the secular part of a religion such as property or injury to person, but they cannot delve into if a church has made the right decision in selecting a priest or it's internal structure of who is a member. Even int he Abrams v Watchtower decision the trial court judge wrote that even if the elders knew that the accusations were false that it is an internal matter and a secular court has no business dealing with it.

Though there is one US court that broke from the pack a little bit. In Pennsylvania their Supreme Court in Bear v Reformed Mennonite Church the court did rule:

"‘. . . (T)he Court has rejected challenges under the Free Exercise Clause to governmental regulation of certain overt acts prompted by religious beliefs or principles, for ‘even when the action is in accord with one's religious convictions, (it) is not totally free from legislative restrictions.’ Braunfeld v. Brown, 366 U.S. 599, 603, 81 S.Ct. 1144, 6 L.Ed.2d 563. The conduct or actions so regulated have invariably posed some substantial threat to public safety, peace or order.'"

"the “shunning” practice of appellee church and the conduct of the individuals may be an excessive interference within areas of “paramount state concern,” i.e. the maintenance of marriage and family relationship, alienation of affection, and the tortious interference with a business relationship...."

Though Mennonite shunning does go further. It prevents communication of anyone even within the home with the person that has been excommunicated.

48

Disfellowshipping decision to go before Canadian Supreme Court

by Simon in

high court will examine whether judicial review applies to membership decisions made by religious groups.

the supreme court of canada has agreed to hear an appeal involving a calgary man who was kicked out of his jehovah's witness church.. randy wall, a real estate agent was "disfellowshipped" from the highwood congregation for being drunk on two occasions and allegedly verbally abusing his wife.. as a result, he says his clients refused to do further business with him, so he argued his property and civil rights were affected.. after losing three internal church appeals of his expulsion, wall made an application with the court of queen's bench in calgary which ordered a hearing to first determine if there was jurisdiction for the court to hear the application.. decisions and appeals.

a judge decided the superior court did have jurisdiction to hear the application.. the church then appealed wall's decision to the alberta court of appeal, which upheld the court of queen's bench, affirming the court has jurisdiction to hear the matter.. one of the three appeal court judges dissented — arguing that congregations are private organizations akin to bridge clubs, whose decisions "are not enforceable promises and have limited, if any, impact outside its small circle.".

Richard Oliver

It also appears that there may be some confusion. The appeal is not whether Watchtower and the Congregation did something wrong in this case, that has not even been established at the trial court level. What Watchtower is appealing is if a secular court has the right to even hear the case in the first. place.

1

Presas v Watchtower

by Richard Oliver in

the plaintiff is cosine persas, at the time of the filing he was in jail and started this action pro se, which is without a lawyer.

when a pro se lawsuit is filed the federal court screens the complaint as a matter of course to determine a few things, that would include, to see if the lawsuit is malicious in nature, if the complaint did not state a claim on which relief can be granted and if the defendant is immune from a lawsuit.

this screen occurs automatically and does not require the defendant, watchtower, to file any motions.. persas makes the allegations that he was abused by a person named rosa who he met through the congregation.

Richard Oliver

The plaintiff is Cosine Persas, at the time of the filing he was in jail and started this action pro se, which is without a lawyer. When a pro se lawsuit is filed the Federal Court screens the complaint as a matter of course to determine a few things, that would include, to see if the lawsuit is malicious in nature, if the complaint did not state a claim on which relief can be granted and if the defendant is immune from a lawsuit. This screen occurs automatically and does not require the defendant, Watchtower, to file any motions.

Persas makes the allegations that he was abused by a person named Rosa who he met through the congregation. The abuse took place both in California, USA and Baja California, Mexico, between the years of 1994 to 1998, there is no clear indication of what age he was during that time period. The complaint goes on to explain that he was coerced to perform these acts through threats that God would destroy him if he attempted to bring down his own. He also claims that he was disfellowshipped, his mother was threatened by his abuser and the New York office repeatedly ignored his letters and calls. He was also claims that he was punished through whip lashings and forced feedings.

Federal courts have the right to hear cases like this when two requirements are met, there has to a diversity of citizenship in states and the controversy must meet the minimum of $75,000. Preras did not state a claim what he said was “seeks declatory judgement that the defendants violated the laws of the land and abused him in the ways listed.” And that he was seeing monetary, compensatory punitive and nominal damaged in an amount to be determined at trial and all such further relief as the court deems necessary and just. The court determined that this was a matter that lacked in Presas complaint so the complaint was dismissed allowing him to file an amended complaint.

The court also had questioned if the case would be barred due to the statute of limitations because California has a 8 year statute of limitations that would require action be brought within that time. The 8 years start when the person turns 18 or when that person or a reasonable person should have known that they suffered harm from the abuse. Presas does not identify when he turned 18 and the court was not able to determine his birth date based on the pleading. He also does not state when he discovered that he suffered harm from the abuse. The court did not rule on whether he is barred based on the statute of limitations though.

4

Castro v Bushman

by Richard Oliver in

belen castro sued the toppenish congregation along with watchtower bible and tract society of new york and watchtower bible and tract society, because she was molested when she was 11 and 12 years old.

he had sued virgil bushman, the perpetrator, but that was settled prior.

watchtower along with the congregation won the motion for summary judgment and belen then appealed the decision.

Richard Oliver

Belen Castro sued the Toppenish Congregation along with Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York and Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, because she was molested when she was 11 and 12 years old. He had sued Virgil Bushman, the perpetrator, but that was settled prior. Watchtower along with the Congregation won the motion for summary judgment and Belen then appealed the decision. And even as the Appeals Court looked at the matter in the most favorable light for Castro, the court affirmed the summary judgment.

The summary judgment was granted to Watchtower and the Congregation for the reason that no special relationship existed between the defendants and Castro or between the defendants and Bushman. It also was granted because Watchtower and the congregation showed that they did not know of Bushman’s propensity to harm children till after the abuse stopped and Castro informed her cousin of what was happening.

Watchtower showed that Bushman never held an appointed position and therefore was not an agent of theirs. They also showed that Watchtower had no control over Bushman and his actions that harmed Castro.

Castro’s complaint included that some of the fondling occurred at the Kingdom hall during a meeting and occurred behind the sound booth. Castro used this to show that the abuse occurred on Watchtower and the Congregation’s property and during an official activity. The issue that both courts saw as that Castro stated in a deposition that Bushman was able to fondle her in a way that no one was able to see, so no one agent of Watchtower or the congregation knew of the abuse.

Castro used C.J.C v Corp of Catholic Bishop of Yakima, to show that a church can be held liable just like a school if abuse occurs on school property or time of the school’s care. The court in that decision ruled that if a child is delivered into the care of a church then the church is responsible for the care of that child during that time. But the court, in this case, rejected this argument because Castro admitted that she never attended meetings without her mother being present and the court ruled that the mother never turned over care to Watchtower or the Congregation for Castro’s care.

48

Disfellowshipping decision to go before Canadian Supreme Court

by Simon in

high court will examine whether judicial review applies to membership decisions made by religious groups.

the supreme court of canada has agreed to hear an appeal involving a calgary man who was kicked out of his jehovah's witness church.. randy wall, a real estate agent was "disfellowshipped" from the highwood congregation for being drunk on two occasions and allegedly verbally abusing his wife.. as a result, he says his clients refused to do further business with him, so he argued his property and civil rights were affected.. after losing three internal church appeals of his expulsion, wall made an application with the court of queen's bench in calgary which ordered a hearing to first determine if there was jurisdiction for the court to hear the application.. decisions and appeals.

a judge decided the superior court did have jurisdiction to hear the application.. the church then appealed wall's decision to the alberta court of appeal, which upheld the court of queen's bench, affirming the court has jurisdiction to hear the matter.. one of the three appeal court judges dissented — arguing that congregations are private organizations akin to bridge clubs, whose decisions "are not enforceable promises and have limited, if any, impact outside its small circle.".

Richard Oliver

I never said you were a drunkard or a wife beater. I was just stating it is not slander. Watchtower doesn't announce why a disfellpwshiping occurs just that someone is longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses which is a true statement. And in a pleading under undisputed facts it would state that someone was disfellowshipped for something, not that they committed that act, unless that is stipulated that it occurred, but that is why a person was disfellowshipped.

24

Church gets own police force - are the Dubs next?

by SadElder in

just read this article in the washington times.

other sites have similar stories.. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/apr/12/briarwood-presbyterian-alabama-megachurch-gets-sta/.

can you imagine the dubs with a sworn police force with arrest powers?.

Richard Oliver

A couple of facts to remember about this. The church that this bill is meant for at least initially who wanted to do it is a huge church. It has about 4000 members, it has a seminary, a school and daycare. Second the officers would be sworn officers so they could only enforce state law it can be likened to many colleges have a police force for their property, they can only patrol on their property and enforce state laws. Fourth, the ACLU of Alabama has already said they will sue over this.

But churches have kind of done this to a degree already. The Mormon University BYU and the Catholic Notre Dame both have their own police force love.

48

Disfellowshipping decision to go before Canadian Supreme Court

by Simon in

high court will examine whether judicial review applies to membership decisions made by religious groups.

the supreme court of canada has agreed to hear an appeal involving a calgary man who was kicked out of his jehovah's witness church.. randy wall, a real estate agent was "disfellowshipped" from the highwood congregation for being drunk on two occasions and allegedly verbally abusing his wife.. as a result, he says his clients refused to do further business with him, so he argued his property and civil rights were affected.. after losing three internal church appeals of his expulsion, wall made an application with the court of queen's bench in calgary which ordered a hearing to first determine if there was jurisdiction for the court to hear the application.. decisions and appeals.

a judge decided the superior court did have jurisdiction to hear the application.. the church then appealed wall's decision to the alberta court of appeal, which upheld the court of queen's bench, affirming the court has jurisdiction to hear the matter.. one of the three appeal court judges dissented — arguing that congregations are private organizations akin to bridge clubs, whose decisions "are not enforceable promises and have limited, if any, impact outside its small circle.".

Richard Oliver

It is possible that the information was inserted into a pleading and that is part of the factual background of the case. The pleading could read that the person was Disfellowshipped for drunkness on two occasions and for the beating of his wife. Because it could be said that is what he was disfellowshipped for and not make the claim that is what he did that is where the difference matters for slander.

48

Disfellowshipping decision to go before Canadian Supreme Court

by Simon in

high court will examine whether judicial review applies to membership decisions made by religious groups.

the supreme court of canada has agreed to hear an appeal involving a calgary man who was kicked out of his jehovah's witness church.. randy wall, a real estate agent was "disfellowshipped" from the highwood congregation for being drunk on two occasions and allegedly verbally abusing his wife.. as a result, he says his clients refused to do further business with him, so he argued his property and civil rights were affected.. after losing three internal church appeals of his expulsion, wall made an application with the court of queen's bench in calgary which ordered a hearing to first determine if there was jurisdiction for the court to hear the application.. decisions and appeals.

a judge decided the superior court did have jurisdiction to hear the application.. the church then appealed wall's decision to the alberta court of appeal, which upheld the court of queen's bench, affirming the court has jurisdiction to hear the matter.. one of the three appeal court judges dissented — arguing that congregations are private organizations akin to bridge clubs, whose decisions "are not enforceable promises and have limited, if any, impact outside its small circle.".

Richard Oliver

ElderEtta that is why Watchtower doesn't announce why someone was Disfellowshipped. All that is announced is that someone is no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses which is a true statement.

4

Doe, et al v National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, PA.

by Richard Oliver in

this is a lawsuit brought by watchtower against an insurance company.

the company provided four insurance policies between 1989 and 1993. the policies were there to pay out any liability damages that would arise during that time from any damages caused by elders and mss advice.

there were a number of exceptions that were spelled out in the policy which included that of a sexual nature and that if an elder or ms violated a law then the payout would not qualify.

Richard Oliver

The Dissenting opinion of the chief judge can be found at https://casetext.com/case/doe-v-natl-union-fire-ins-co-of-pittsburgh

If anyone wants the full opinion which is the majority opinion let me know and I will email you a PDF copy of it.

20

Maddox v Integro USA, Inc, et al

by Richard Oliver in

i know that this is old but going through and posting about every lawsuit that i can find in this decade with watchtower either good or bad if it has not already been posted.

this lawsuit was brought in the federal district court for the eastern district of louisana.

it involves a family whose mother had died at a district convention in 2011. the mother, patsy, was descending stairs at the convention which was held at the mitchell center in mobile, alabama when she fell and was fatally injured.

Richard Oliver

Sorry I meant to write. Cemetary at Walkill not Cemetary and Walkill.