LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson subpoenaed for deposition in sex abuse lawsuits

[Joel]

LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson subpoenaed for deposition in sex abuse lawsuits

SALT LAKE CITY -- Attorneys have subpoenaed Thomas S. Monson, the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to give a deposition in a series of lawsuits alleging sexual abuse of Navajo children who participated in a church-run placement program.

Lawyers representing four people who claim to have been sexually abused while participating in the LDS Church's "Lamanite Placement Program" or "Indian Student Placement Program" in the 1960s and 1970s issued a deposition subpoena to the church leader. FOX 13 learned of the subpoena when attorneys for the church filed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City to have it quashed.

"In justification of their discovery demand, Defendants claim that President Monson has 'unique information' concerning the jurisdictional facts in this case. Nothing could be further from the truth," LDS Church attorney David Jordan wrote. "The only connection President Monson has to this case is that he happened to be a senior leader of the LDS Church during the time period Defendants allege they were abused. Defendants do not claim that President Monson, in his role as an LDS Church leader, had responsibility for the administration of the ISPP. Nor do Defendants suggest that President Monson has personal knowledge of their participation in the ISPP or of their alleged abuse."

A letter from the alleged victims' attorney, Craig Vernon, argues that President Monson's testimony is relevant. He cites the situation surrounding former LDS Church General Authority George Lee, who was excommunicated from the church in 1989 and accused of sexual abuse. Vernon argues Monson was a high-ranking Mormon church leader at the time, and would be in a position to testify about complaints against Lee.

"What President Monson knew or didn’t know about this and child sexual abuse within this program in general, is relevant. If President Monson claims no knowledge, that too is relevant to what the Church knew or should have known about Lee and his ability to lead this program within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation and protect Indian Placement Program’s children from sexual harm," he wrote.

The Mormon church is vigorously fighting to have the subpoena of its top leader quashed, going to a federal judge. A copy of the deposition subpoena, obtained by FOX 13, shows lawyers for the alleged victims want President Monson to sit for the deposition on August 4 in Salt Lake City.


The deposition subpoena for LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson.

Four people -- identified in court documents only by initials -- have filed lawsuits against the LDS Church, accusing it of not doing enough to stop sexual abuse within the church-run program in the 1960s and 1970s. They claim they were taken from their homes in the Navajo Nation, baptized into the Mormon faith, and placed with foster families across the state. One lawsuit claims it was "the LDS Church's desire to convert Native American or 'Lamanite' children and assimilate them into their culture reflects teachings in the Book of Mormon, a book of canonized scripture unique to the Mormon religion."

Some of the alleged victims claim they reported sexual abuse to LDS Church officials, but nothing was done and they were not removed from foster homes.

The lawsuits were filed in Navajo Tribal Court in New Mexico. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has fought to have the lawsuits brought to federal court in Salt Lake City, arguing that the alleged abuse occurred in Utah and it should be litigated here. Attorneys for the alleged victims have conceded that if it were moved to Utah, statute of limitations issues could doom the lawsuits.

The LDS Church did not offer any comment beyond the court filing. The church has said it has toughened its abuse reporting requirements and how it tracks people accused of abuse.

In lawsuits involving the LDS Church, it is not unheard of for lawyers to attempt to depose the faith's leaders. It is rare for them to actually have to give testimony.

Peter Stirba, a Salt Lake City attorney not connected to this lawsuit, said civil litigation rules allow for a corporation to designate someone to testify in depositions, not the leaders. He did not think that a judge would likely grant the plaintiff's request, noting the other avenues they have.

"Let's say you have a fender-bender with your Chevy Tahoe," Stirba said. "The first thing you do not do is say, 'Let's depose the chairman of the Board of GM.'"

Vernon told FOX 13 in an interview Friday that he believed President Monson had "unique information" he could provide for the case and his testimony under oath was necessary. Vernon said he would like to conduct it soon, pointing to Monson's age and health.

"We feel we have the right to depose him. We want to depose him now," Vernon told FOX 13. "Everybody has an expiration date on earth and President Monson does as well. Frankly, because of his age, we believe time is of the essence."

Read the LDS Church's motion to quash President Monson's subpoena here: https://www.scribd.com/document/3190439 ... h-subpoena

[Elizabeth]

How can a gentleman of his age be expected to undergo this stress.

[David13]

It's elder abuse.
dc

[kennyhs]

Joel, you need something to do.

[butterfly]

I would support granting honorable releases/ emeritus status whenever it is sought by the GAs themselves.
I think taking native American children from their homes and indoctrinating them into our society was a bad idea.

[Rachael]

If abuse happened it happened.

Should TSM answer for it? At his age, and mental capacity, AND his lack of likely involvement? Idk.

Church heiarchy requires the buck stops somewhere. Maybe we should look at this corporate sole thing. If a victim does not get redress, assuming the victim is really a victim, and he/she/they follow the proper channels all the way up to the top, it's the victims fault because the top tier is old and has dementia?

[JohnnyL]

I'm seeing that someone else will be appointed. If that person cannot answer questions that Pres. Monson could, that might be cause for his subpoena to be recognized.

[David13]

It's nothing but harassment on the part of the attorney. It's a sleaze ball trick to get more settlement money. It has absolutely nothing at all to do with any abuse.
Other than it is designed to abuse President Monson and get the attorneys to offer more settlement money.
dc

[gkearney]

While I suspect that the matter will be taken care of and he will never have to testify this does bring up an interesting point.

There is a real danger in having the church be a corporate sole. Corporate soles which have their origins in monarchies and in state religions of Europe. They expose, in the case of the United States, the sole, President Monson, to a degree of legal peril that would not be the case if the church were a corporation aggregate. As a corporate sole President Monson is the ultimate responsible party to everything done by on on behalf of the Corporation (the Chruch).

This sort of legal exposure did not really have much impact in Crown Corporation, state religions and Commonwealth governments which can employ the legal notion of sovereign immunity to protect them from legal claims but in our case no such claim of immunity can be so employed and the sole is exposed to legal risk even by the actions of those far removed from the sole.

[Joel]

Navajos who claim abuse in LDS program renew subpoena to church president

Attorneys for Navajos who say they were sexually abused while placed in Mormon homes off the reservation have renewed their effort to compel LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson to testify under oath.

Attorneys for Navajos identified only by their initials obtained a subpoena in state court to compel the ailing church leader to testify about the church-sponsored Indian Student Placement Program, which operated from 1947 to the mid-90s.

Four Navajos filed lawsuits in Tribal Court in early 2016 against the church, alleging they were sexually abused when placed in Mormon homes during the school year.

The Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints earlier this year tried unsuccessfully to move the lawsuits from tribal court to federal court in Salt Lake City. As part of the federal court proceedings, attorneys for the alleged victims also had sought to depose Monson.

They asserted that Monson, who is 89, has "unique information" about the Navajo placement program. Church attorneys, however, resisted the subpoena, saying Monson had no oversight of the program and providing a deposition would be "unduly burdensome" for him.

The federal court effort ended when U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby ruled that the lawsuits had to proceed first in Tribal Court.

On Thursday, attorneys filed an application for a subpoena under Utah law and it was issued the same day. Church attorneys can file a motion to quash the subpoena.

[brianj]

David13 is right, this will do nothing. If President Monson were to submit to a deposition or were compelled to testify, he could invoke the clergy-penitent privilege. Or, at his age, he could just say he doesn't recall anything he's being questioned about.

[inho]

David13 is right, this will do nothing. If President Monson were to submit to a deposition or were compelled to testify, he could invoke the clergy-penitent privilege. Or, at his age, he could just say he doesn't recall anything he's being questioned about.

Or he could just answer honestly. I don't think he knows anything or was involved in anything that could get him or the church in a trouble.

[brianj]

David13 is right, this will do nothing. If President Monson were to submit to a deposition or were compelled to testify, he could invoke the clergy-penitent privilege. Or, at his age, he could just say he doesn't recall anything he's being questioned about.

Or he could just answer honestly. I don't think he knows anything or was involved in anything that could get him or the church in a trouble.

I doubt that would work. If he doesn't know anything then he would be accused of lying or covering up. Then again, saying he doesn't remember would also be used against him. Not testifying or using clergy-penitent privilege would be the best options for him. Since this is a civil case instead of a criminal case, I understand the right to not answer doesn't apply.

[Joel]

Navajo judge won't toss claims of abuse in former LDS program

A Navajo Nation judge is refusing to dismiss lawsuits claiming Native American children were sexually abused while enrolled in a Mormon church foster program.

Judge Carol Perry said in the ruling released Thursday the cases should be heard in Navajo court.

The allegations were said to have taken place outside the Navajo Nation in Utah or Arizona, but the judge found tribal courts have jurisdiction because the program was based there. Perry also cited a fundamental Navajo belief that children must not be mistreated.

The lawsuits say the church failed to protect children from sexual abuse after they were placed with host families.

Thousands of children participated in the now-defunct program that was meant to give children educational opportunities from the late 1940s until around 2000.

A church spokesman declined to comment on the decision. Leaders have said the church works to prevent abuse.

[Joel]

Tribal members settle abuse cases against Mormon church

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Four Native Americans who claimed they were sexually abused while enrolled in a now-defunct Mormon church foster program decades ago filed paperwork to dismiss their cases after reaching financial settlements, a lawyer said.

Allegations have been made against the church by more than a dozen tribal members from the Navajo Nation and Crow Tribe of Montana.

Four cases recently were settled, three were settled last year and others reached agreements out of court. One case remains in Washington state.

The terms of the latest agreements are confidential and include no admission of wrongdoing, said Craig Vernon, an attorney who represented the tribal members.

The cases were filed in Window Rock District Court on the Navajo Nation.

Vernon said he believed his clients would have prevailed in tribal courts, but federal courts were risky. He said his clients had mixed feelings about settling.

Eric Hawkins, a spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, declined comment. He said the settlement agreement prohibits any discussion about the terms.

The first of the lawsuits was filed by two Navajo siblings in 2016 in tribal court.

The lawsuits alleged tribal members were sexually abused between the 1960s and early 1980s in the Indian Student Placement Program, which put thousands of Native American children in Mormon foster homes in Utah, Idaho and New Mexico.

The voluntary program, aimed at giving children educational opportunities they didn’t have on the reservation, started in the late 1940s and ended around 2000.

The people accused of abuse were associated with host families, not church leaders.

A federal judge in Utah previously denied a request from Mormon church lawyers who wanted the cases to be tried in Salt Lake City because the allegations did not involve any abuse on tribal land.

A tribal judge said the Navajo court has jurisdiction because the program was based on the reservation that extends into Utah, Arizona and New Mexico.

The lawsuits sought monetary damages, written apologies and a guarantee that Mormon leaders would report suspected abuse. Vernon said his clients did not receive an apology and church policies remain unchanged.

The children participated in the program at a time when the church believed it had a duty to restore the heritage of American Indians who were referred to as Lamanites, or the wicked of two civilizations that emerged when God guided families to the Americas, Matthew Bowman, author of the 2012 book, “The Mormon People: The Making of an American Faith,” has said.

The church changed the introduction to the Book of Mormon a few years ago to say that Lamanites are among the ancestors of American Indians, he said.