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The Navajo Nation filed motions Friday to intervene in the pending lawsuit against the LDS Church concerning the alleged sex abuse of four children.
The motions, which ask to move the matter to tribal court, state that hearing the case in federal court challenges the sovereignty of the Navajo Nation, which has a "direct and substantial interest in defending these interests." Attorneys for the Navajo Nation ask U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby to dismiss the lawsuit until after it is exhausted by tribal proceedings.
The case alleges that four Navajos — two men and two women identified by the initials RJ, MM, BN and LK — suffered abuse during the 1960s to early '80s while participating in the church-sponsored Indian Student Placement Program, also known as the Lamanite Placement Program, which placed thousands of Navajo children into Mormon foster homes in Utah, Idaho and New Mexico, according to court documents.
The Navajo Nation says that because The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints "maintained churches on the reservation ... proselytized members on the reservation, entered into agreements with tribal members on the reservation, took tribal children from their homes on the reservation and were notified of, and failed to report, abuse on the reservation" that it falls under its jurisdiction.
The church has said it would suffer "irreparable harm" if the case were tried in tribal court because its constitutional religious freedoms might be denied, according to court documents. Attorneys for the church filed a proposal in response to the filings Friday, asking the court to grant its motion for preliminary injunction, keeping the case in federal court, because the Navajo children lived in Utah cities and towns outside the reservation.
The Navajo Nation, though, said the church's claims that constitutional rights don't apply in tribal court is "a mischaracterization" of its laws.
Additionally, the court has yet to address a motion filed by the four Navajos' attorneys in July to subpoena LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson to testify at a deposition, claiming he has "unique information" about the alleged rapes and molestations because he was an apostle in the church, starting in 1963, when LDS Social Services ran the placement program. The church filed a subsequent motion to quash the subpoena.
The four Navajos seek apologies from the church, as well as unspecified financial damages from the religious organization. A motion hearing is scheduled for Monday.
Twitter: @CourtneyLTanner