10 January 2020 — 0845 mst
Montana Supreme Court’s awful Watchtower
opinion subordinates state to church
The Thompson Falls Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses had knowledge of the sexual abuse of a child, but did not report that knowledge to Montana’s criminal justice authorities. That was just fine, dandy, and legal, ruled Montana’s Supreme Court, unanimously, because there’s a loophole in Montana's mandatory reporting law.
The facts are chilling:
Peter McGowan, Ivy McGowan-Castleberry, and Plaintiff Holly McGowan are siblings. Their mother Joni married Maximo Reyes in 1994. Plaintiff Alexis Nunez is Ivy’s daughter. At all times relevant to the underlying complaint, Holly, Peter, Joni, and Maximo were members of the Thompson Falls Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses (“Thompson Falls Congregation”).
In 1998, Holly told Don Herberger, a local elder at the Thompson Falls Congregation, that her step-father Maximo had inappropriately touched and fondled her. Herberger directed Holly to two other local elders, Ken Reich and Glenn Wilson, who dismissed her accusations on the grounds that they lacked a confession or second witness—which elders require to substantiate a report of abuse before taking actions against the accused—and were therefore unactionable. Without recourse, Holly returned home, where Maximo’s abuse escalated to include numerous incidents of rape. His abuse continued until she was old enough to leave home. [Opinion, pages 2–4]
National Public Radio has an excellent, extended, report on the decision and its context. And at The Montana Post, Don Pogreba has a thoughtful post on Clerk of the Montana Supreme Court Bowen Greenwood’s protest of the opinion.
The court concluded:
We hold accordingly that the undisputed material facts in the summary judgment record demonstrate as a matter of law that Jehovah’s Witnesses were not mandatory reporters under § 41-3-201, MCA, in this case because their church doctrine, canon, or practice required that clergy keep reports of child abuse confidential, thus entitling the Defendants to the exception of § 41-3-201(6)(c), MCA. The reporting statute as written accommodates Jehovah’s Witnesses’ definition and practice of confidentiality. [Opinion, page 17.]
In my opinion, the ruling gives to all churches a license to conceal crimes, and subordinates Montana’s law to canon law. That’s a dangerous situation, a long step toward a theocratic state in which sordid crimes against children can be concealed legally in the name of protecting ecclesiastical confidentiality. The ruling is a great gift not only to Jehovah’s Witnesses, but also to the choirboy molesting priests in the Catholic Church. Montana’s Supreme Court failed sexually abused children. Now the Montana Legislature must remove the religious loophole from Montana’s mandatory reporting law.
I think Greenwood’s protest was heartfelt and sincere — he’s no enemy of religion — but I tend to agree with Pogreba that is was unprofessional. In that situation, the clerk should remain silent, or resign in protest.