by tresdecu 24 Replies latest jw friends
I know somebody who got disfellowshipped...they decided to appeal. How long does the appeal process usually take? Do they ever get overturned? (I know this is subjective based on the case) I guess I'm am just looking at the possibility of the disfellowshipping being annuled by the appeal comitee.
Thanks for your thoughts!
TD
details please by the way, I was never an elder, I could have been an elder by now. I was MS.
The appeal committee is usually handled within a week or so of the initial committee meeting. There are exceptions to this though if there are legal threats and the elders have to communicate with the Death Star. The co usually forms the appeal committee by using the most experienced elders in nearby congregations. I have heard of only one appeal ever being won and it was our dear friend flippers. Most times I think the appeal committee comes in with the goal of validating the prior judgement. Hope this helps.
SIAM
I am trying to recall if I heard of an DF'ing being overturned on appeal. I don't think so, but there weren't a lot of DF'ings in my area either.
When someone appeals, the must write a letter stating his disagreement. Then give the letter to the elder who presided. The chairman of the JC then contacts the C.O. asap. The C.O. will then call the most "capable" elders in his circuit to handle the appeal. They will meet with the original JC and all notes given to them along with the DF form S-77. The case is re-tried and witnesses may be called in to testify again. Both comittees must now send their letters respectively to the branch and wait fo the branch to make final decision. The latter procedure is new even if both comittees conclude df was not justiified. The individual is told to wait for final decision from the branch.
I'm not an elder, being a woman didn't help in that regard, but from what I've read here before, appeals rarely work. You need to appeal within a week so it gets sorted out pretty quick.
I know of 2 appeals. In both the JC had made many procedural errors (due to personal dislike of the person). Gathering of "proof" led to lies and having family members on the JC. In one case the accuser's father was on the JC of the one accused. There was only one "witness." One other elder on the JC was the uncle of the accuser. The accuser was found to be lying after the accused had been df'd. This actually was a reversed df....and 4 elders on the BOE were removed by the CO and Headquarters.
In the other the elder running the JC (yes he countered the other elders suggestions) pushed it through because of personal dislike. He made no secret of it even to the other 3 elders on the appeal JC. The appeal went through and to this day 15 years later that first elder dislikes and shuns the 3 elders on the appeal JC.
EGO not love
All this info is covered in the Elders game plan book, "Shepherding the Flock of God" I would do a search for this PDF and do some reading. There is also a 2nd little known appeal if the first appeal does not go your way.
The elders are told, in this book, to not mention this 2nd appeal process and is only allowed if the accused, after the 1st appeal goes awry, demands that there they are still innocent and demands to write a letter personally to the Headquarters. Something like that.
The book actually instructs the elders to NOT TELL the accused of this option.
Lot's of good info in there.
NJY
Details, just because IAAC asked for them.
The ones I heard of (and I never served on one) were filed mostly for the reason that the person felt the decision of the committee to disfellowship was wrong. The person felt they should have been found "repentant." In a couple of those cases, an appeal committee agreed and overturned the DF. In a couple of other cases, the appeal committee actually found that the evidence was lacking but upheld the DF anyway, stating that the person had an unrepentant attitude about the help offered them concerning some minor sins still involved.
I know that's confusing. A person said "I am not guilty of what they DF'ed me for." An appeal committee investigated in a new JC and discovered that guilt could not be established according to the rules. But the appeal committee upheld the DF anyway, stating unrepentance for some other violation of the rules. Basically, it would be like overturning the fornication portion of the charges and then adding lying to the elders in to uphold the original decision.
For the most part, appeals simply upheld the original DF's. But the rules are so strange and so many elders don't understand them correctly concerning what is and what is not proper evidence. They don't often understand that lack of cooperation on the part of the accused is not any evidence at all. Appealing any decision buys you time before an announcement can be made.
There is no reason not to appeal any JC, unless you want to be reinstated sometime soon. I tried to tell my best friend at the time to appeal his DF decision when he came forward and confessed to a violation of the rules concerning viewing pornography. He told me that he wanted to be reinstated quickly, so he would not appeal. His actual DF, when he filled in the details, were for a single word answer to the elders- they asked how his "problem" was going. He said "Fine" knowing they were refering to a previous confession of viewing pornography. Later, he approached them and said, "I said it was fine, but it's still a problem. I need help." Because he was an MS, they removed him, but decided to have a JC for lying. I thought it was ridiculous, but that's what they did.
He rationalized that he did indeed lie (with that single word, "Fine"). He thought if he lost the appeal, they would keep him "out" longer. That's probably true. The same elders that you appeal against have to recommend your reinstatement.
Most people learn after going through any JC to stop telling the elders anything.
I was the chair of a Judicial Committee and had been on the investigation as well. The other elder on the investigation was witness to the “confession” of wrongdoing. Once in the committee settings the brother backtracked on his confession and we didn’t have any other proof. In fact I think we pushed him to confess that he was getting drunk.
I excused the brother and told the others that we were unfairly putting this brother in a Judicial setting and the we blew the investigation. The other brother who investigated said we should let the Committee stand and find him “innocent”, once I pointed out that one is already “guilty” when they come before JC, it’s our job to either determine repentance or bring the brother to repentance.
I convinced the other two brothers that we should disband the JC and apologize.
I got in a little trouble with the rest of the body, but not too much.
The brother who wanted to keep the JC intact was the biggest “company man” and fool on the body.
