Posted on 07/12/2007 9:40:09 AM PDT by colorcountry
PORTLAND, Ore. The Oregon Supreme Court rejected an effort by the Mormon church to withhold financial information from the lawyers for a man who claims a "home teacher" frequently molested him about 20 years ago.
Despite the legal defeat, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints did not immediately release the detailed financial information about its net worth, The Oregonian newspaper reported.
Kelly Clark, an attorney for the Oregon man suing the church, said it would be good for a jury to have the information before considering his request for $45 million in punitive damages. A trial is scheduled for Aug. 6.
"A jury needs to know the entire financial context to know whether a punitive award is too much or sufficient or not enough," Clark said.
The LDS church sought emergency relief from a trial court order to turn over the financial information, but the Oregon Supreme Court late Monday rejected the appeal. The pretrial decision was reached on narrow pretrial grounds and doesn't mean the court would not ultimately side with the church's position that the Constitution protects its right to keep financial information private.
"The church is considering its position," Stephen F. English, the LDS church's lead Portland attorney, told the newspaper. "The church respects the rule of law but has profound constitutional concerns based on its constitutional right to protect the free expression of its religion."
The LDS church has not released financial information since 1959.
"It's the secret of secrets," said Timothy N. Kosnoff, a Seattle attorney who sought the information in 2001 on behalf of a former Oregon man who claimed he was sexually abused by an LDS Sunday school teacher.
(Excerpt) Read more at sltrib.com ...
In light of the fact that the LDS Church is currently involved in building a multi-million dollar "for profit" shopping mall in Salt Lake City, it seems that quite often Churches cross from the ecclesiastical realm into the world of big business. Should they then pay taxes? Or should they be required to show that a certain percentage of funds are spent toward charity and not into lining pockets or creating profits......
....just wondered.
You know, if the Catholic Church can be forced to pay for the actions of a very few rogue members, don’t see why we don’t apply the standard to a church that is a major commercial player in the Salt Lake area.
If they've nothing to hide, I'd think they would want to be transparently honest.
Seems to me, that it's members should know if their tithes and gifts are going to good ground.
Trust but verify.....
Such an individual should be prosecuted criminally to the max and locked up and throw away the key...and could also be sued.
But I do not believe suing the Church in this instance is the answer, that is, unless a Bishop or other official leader making the assignment is shown that the Church knew of this individual's problem and then assigned him anyway...which, in the LDS church, is unlikely because if a person has any history of this type of thing they are not allowed to so much as teach a youth Sunday School class at the Church or be involved with the youth in any way.
Sounds like these people are trying to "cash" in and simply want to know the net worth so they can inflate their dollar figure (particularly the lawyers) and go after whomever they can sit in their sights with the most cash.
The LDS Church has paid huge settlements in the past, but as of yet, have never released any information about their huge holdings and financial standings.
They always settle for millions rather than to release the information. It appears to be to secretive for a legitimate institution. You would think a in order for a huge corporation like the LDS would have to be more transparent in order to recieve tax exempt status.
That being said, I also believe that the plaintiff has a right to reasonable punitive damages and in the absence of any specific admission as to their net worth, I believe that the court would have both the right and the duty to instruct the jury that they can consider that the assets of the LDS Church are unlimited in assessing any specific punitive damage award and the LDS Church would then lose it's ability to appeal the decision on the grounds that the punitive damage award was excessive.
The LDS Church is in a lose/lose situation in this case. To protect themselves they should probably release the information, but I do not believe the court has the power to force them to make that "revelation."
Interesting. I wasn't aware they had ever released it. Aside from it's relationship to this case, I would think keeping the books "secret" could have left the door open to all kinds of fiscal accountability nightmares - embezzlement, bankruptcy, money laundering, graft, you name it. At a minimum what Mormons need is an organization like this one:
Just another frivolous lawsuit.
What an interesting take. Your post is very thought provoking. Thank you
Only evil works in darkness. They should release the finacial records. Shame on them.
You have summed up this case ezactly right, IMHO. It should be up to the gold-digging lawyers, to prove that the Church was aware of the “teacher”’s peculiar tastes and sent him into the home anyway. While the Church may have a lot of money, a lot of that money probably came from a lot of people who are not overly well-off.
I wouldn’t trust ANY church that wouldn’t provide, upon request, a complete, detailed, copy of its balance sheet and P&E’s to any member who asked. My Church passes them out quarterly to all members.
The church does pay taxes on all its commercial holdings, which are owned indirectly through Deseret Management Corporation.
Anyone who objects to the way the church does business is free to quit coming, or to keep coming but refrain from making donations.
Are the profits retained by Deseret Management or turned over to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Inc?
It would be very interesting to see who the board members, and managing members are of the different LDS umbrella companies. Especially in light of Mitt Romney claiming to have no connection with the actual Church Hierarchy other than as member and lay minister.
The tentacles of this body go wide and deep, and there is no record and no accountablity, yet Americans are expected to “trust” Romney and cast our vote for him in the POTUS election.
To tell you the truth I am somewhat hesitant (no, I’m downright terrified) to do so. Great and spacious buildings, secret combinations.....doesn’t sit well with many of us.
You have an obvious visceral hatred for the Mormon church, so everything you say has to be evaluated in light of that. I’m sure you are not giving a dime to the Mormon church, so what they do with the money is absolutely of no concern to you.
I’m sure that profits from the businesses go to the church, to the extent the church holds ownership. In other words, if the church is the sole owner, then the church gets all the profits.
But the church has far more money-consuming assets than money-producing assets. They use the money to build and maintain facilities all over the world, in places where the locals can’t afford to do it themselves. They run the largest private welfare system in the world. They fund universities. They fund microcredit programs in the developing world. They fund LDS charities, that provides disaster relief.
Only the top level general authorities work full-time, and only they receive a salary, and it is modest. The President of the church lives in condo on the top floor of a modest building that I can see out my office window. I know of professional men who have received a heads up that they are in line for a call to such a full-time position. They begin making financial preparations because they know that their large incomes are going to end. You are not going to find anyone getting rich off of church service.
But, again, it is of no concern to anyone except those that donate, and they are free to stop donating at any time. They can stop donating and still attend church and take advantage of all its resources and activities, except temple ceremonies.
Yes I do.
I’m sure you are not giving a dime to the Mormon church, so what they do with the money is absolutely of no concern to you.
You forget the thousands I gave to them in the past.
I’m sure that profits from the businesses go to the church, to the extent the church holds ownership. In other words, if the church is the sole owner, then the church gets all the profits.
But the church has far more money-consuming assets than money-producing assets. They use the money to build and maintain facilities all over the world, in places where the locals can’t afford to do it themselves. They run the largest private welfare system in the world. They fund universities. They fund microcredit programs in the developing world. They fund LDS charities, that provides disaster relief.
Then why can't they be transparent, why must they keep it secret?
Only the top level general authorities work full-time, and only they receive a salary, and it is modest. The President of the church lives in condo on the top floor of a modest building that I can see out my office window. I know of professional men who have received a heads up that they are in line for a call to such a full-time position. They begin making financial preparations because they know that their large incomes are going to end. You are not going to find anyone getting rich off of church service.
Then why can't they be transparent, why must they keep it secret?
But, again, it is of no concern to anyone except those that donate, and they are free to stop donating at any time. They can stop donating and still attend church and take advantage of all its resources and activities, except temple ceremonies.
How important are Temple ceremonies to LDS? Are they just a simple little ceremony that no one needs to take part in or are they seen as instrumental and necessary in the process of exaltation? No need to answer .... we all know the truth anyway.
Every church that believes in "a priesthood of all believers" should be paying attention to this lawsuit.
The don’t disclose the information because it is nobody’s business and they don’t have to, just to satisfy someone’s idle curiousity.
If you care enough about the church to want to go to the temple, then you are not going to grouse about financial statements. If, like you, you believe it is all a crock, but just like the social aspects, then you are not going to be the least bit concerned about having a temple recommend.
The day to day participation, the participation in the activities, fun and otherwise, does not hinge on donations. We are one of the few churches that does not “pass the plate,” thereby putting pressure on attendees to donate.
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