Three plaintiffs and disaffected church members whose 2019 lawsuit accuses leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of fraud and racketeering will seek to push their case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Their suit, which originated in Utah, asserts that church leaders knowingly misled them and other members on a host of church doctrines, including over how the Book of Mormon, the faith’s signature scripture, came about.
They are not giving up easily.
(Rick Bowmer | AP) Plaintiffs question church teachings on how the Book of Mormon came about.
After having their case dismissed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City in September 2024, they appealed to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.
A three-judge panel at the 10th Circuit denied it as well, finding that the assertions under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act of misrepresentations by church leaders and allegations of fraudulent use of tithing funds required the court to decide questions of faith, “namely, the truth or falsity of religious beliefs.”
Attorneys for the Utah-based church have so far successfully argued that the case and others like it pose an untenable threat to First Amendment protections of religion, asking courts to delve into and decide ecclesiastical matters subject to faith.
A high bar in U.S. courts
It was the third rejection this year by federal courts of litigation involving the practice in which members donate a tenth of their income to the church.
The 9th Circuit in January threw out a similar case brought by wealthy Utahn James Huntsman, seeking to recovering some $5 million of his own tithing.
In April, a federal judge in Utah tossed out a potential class-action lawsuit over tithing brought by nine plaintiffs.
After an August dismissal of their case by the three judges at the 10th Circuit, plaintiffs Laura Gaddy, Lyle Small and Leanne Harris then sought a review of their case by the full appellate court, in what is known as an en banc review.
That bid, too, was turned down Oct 1, with the judges ordering their putative class-action suit returned to a lower court in Utah.
The Gaddy plaintiffs have now asked that the 10th Circuit’s order to be temporarily halted while they file for a petition for writ of certiorari, seeking to put the suit before the nation’s highest court.
Their Salt Lake City attorney, Kay Burningham, has confirmed they intend to petition for U.S. Supreme Court review with a late December filing.
Question ‘of national importance’
Their case, the plaintiffs argue in their latest brief, poses a question of national importance worthy of being considered by the nine justices.
That is: Whether the First Amendment’s church-autonomy doctrine bars civil fraud claims that hinge on a religious organization’s intentional concealment and misrepresentation of material historical facts in order to induce and retain church membership and donations.
The plaintiffs say the 10th Circuit’s rejection of their case widened the church-autonomy doctrine “beyond its historical and constitutional limits, effectively immunizing a religious corporation from liability for secular deceit.”
Their appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, they contend, will highlight “a direct conflict” among federal and state courts over the intersection of religious autonomy and neutral legal principles applied to fraud claims.
They are asking the 10th Circuit panel to recall its order sending the case to the lower court and hold off on any further proceedings until Dec. 30, when they say they will file their Supreme Court petition.
Note to readers • This story is available to Salt Lake Tribune subscribers only. Thank you for supporting local journalism.