Olin Richmond Moyle (1887–1966) was legal counsel for the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society[1] from 1935 to 1939. He helped represent Jehovah's Witnesses in two cases before the United States Supreme Court, which set new precedents on First Amendment freedoms.[2] A dispute with Watch Tower Society president J. F. Rutherford led to Moyle suing the society for libel over an article in its magazine, The Watchtower.
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Watch Tower Society association
Moyle began associating with Charles Taze Russell's Bible Students group about 1910.[citation needed] In 1935 Moyle, his wife and son left their home in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin and moved into the Brooklyn, New York headquarters of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society to serve as the society's legal counsel, heading its newly-formed Legal Department. The department had been established by Rutherford to help Jehovah's Witnesses throughout the US mount court cases to defend themselves amid increasing opposition to their preaching and stance on flag salute.[3] Rutherford and Moyle represented the society jointly in various lawsuits.[4] In 1938, Moyle won the Lovell v. City of Griffin case before the Supreme Court of the United States[5] and the same year sent a letter to President Roosevelt condemning his support of "Fascist" Catholicism.[6]
Resignation
On July 21, 1939, Moyle wrote an open letter of resignation to Rutherford to complain about behaviour of some members of the Bethel family, including Rutherford, that he considered of low moral quality.[7][8] Among other things, Moyle accused Rutherford of unkind treatment of the staff, outbursts of anger, discrimination, and vulgar language. Moyle also claimed Rutherford had "many many homes, to wit, Bethel, Staten Island, California" and deplored "the difference between the accommodations furnished to you, and your personal attendants, compared with those furnished to some of your brethren".[9]
Moyle had been handling the famous Minersville School District v. Gobitis case, and had won at the trial court level as well as at the appellate level. However, after Moyle's removal from the case, the Minersville School District appealed the Gobitis case to the Supreme Court. Rutherford himself argued the case before the Supreme Court in 1940, and the Court ruled against the Jehovah's Witnesses by a vote of 8-1. It was this ruling that triggered the nationwide wave of violence against Jehovah's Witnesses that lasted for the next several months.
Libel lawsuit
Although Moyle had advised his resignation would take effect on September 1, the Watch Tower board dismissed him immediately and he returned to his home congregation in Wisconsin. On October 15, 1939 the directors responded in the pages of The Watchtower,[10] stating that "every paragraph of that letter is false, filled with lies, and is a wicked slander and a libel".[11] The article compared his actions with those of Judas Iscariot.
For four years past the writer of that letter has been entrusted with the confidential matters of the Society. It now appears that the writer of that letter, without excuse, libels the family of God at Bethel, and identifies himself as one who speaks evil against the Lord's organization, and who is a murmurer and complainer, even as the scriptures have foretold. (Jude 4-16; 1Cor. 4:3; Rom 14:4)
The members of the board of directors hereby resent the unjust criticism appearing in that letter, disapprove of the writer and his actions, and recommend the president of the Society immediately terminate the relationship of O. R. Moyle to the Society as legal counsel and as a member of the Bethel family.
Moyle was disfellowshipped by his congregation,[3] which wrote a letter to The Watchtower stating that they had not read Moyle's letter, but disapproved of his actions and "never listen to accusations against Brother Rutherford".[3][12] In 1940, Moyle sued the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York over the response in The Watchtower. Rutherford presented a public resolution at a 1941 convention against Moyle, with reference to the September 15, 1941 issue of The Watchtower.[13] Moyle won his suit, and the court awarded him $30,000 in damages, which was reduced to $15,000 on appeal in 1944.[14]
The initial jury verdict was affirmed twice on appeal; first by the five member Appellate Division, 2nd Department (3-2); and second, unanimously, by the seven members of the state's highest court, The Court of Appeals, in the capitol at Albany.[15]
References
- ^ "Master List of Special Collections in the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections", Princeton University Library, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, As Retrieved 2009-08-14, "Moyle, Olin R. (Olin Richmond), 1887-1966, Olin R. Moyle Papers, Consists of works, correspondence, three diaries (1931-1951), a scrapbook, printed matter, and newspaper clippings of Moyle, an attorney for the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. The collection contains a typed manuscript with corrections of Moyle's unpublished book Christ's Glorious Church and descriptions of various legal proceedings, particularly those of Joseph F. Rutherford, in which Moyle was one of the society's attorneys."
- ^ "Schneider v. New Jersey". http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/faclibrary/case.aspx?case=Schneider_v_NJ. See also Lovell v. City of Griffin
- ^ a b c Wills, Tony (2006). A People For His Name. Lulu Enterprises. pp. 21-224. ISBN 9781430301004.
- ^ FindLaw, U.S. Supreme Court SCHNEIDER v. NEW JERSEY, 308 U.S. 147 (1939)
- ^ "Correspondence from Rutherford to Moyle re: the Griffin case". http://cchasson.free.fr/deposit/doc/rutherfordletterde5.jpg.
- ^ "1938 letter to Roosevelt". http://jwfacts.com/images/moyle-1938-roosevelt-letter.pdf.
- ^ "Moyle's open letter to Rutherford". http://www.docbob.org/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=21.
- ^ Doc Bob's JW website, Moyle's open letter to Rutherford
- ^ Olin R. Moyle's Letter to J. F. Rutherford
- ^ The Watchtower, October 15, 1939, pages 316, 317. Wills reproduces the article in A People For His Name, pages 202-203.
- ^ Blizard, Paul. "Watchtower response Watch the Tower website". http://www.geocities.com/paulblizard/response.html Watchtower response.
- ^ The Watchtower, July 1, 1940, page 207.
- ^ "1941 Watchtower Resolution against Moyle". September 15, 1941. p. 285. http://jwfacts.com/images/Moyle-1941-Watchtower-Resolution.pdf.
- ^ December 20, 1944 Consolation, p. 21
- ^ Moyle v. Rutherford et al., 261 App. Div. 968; 26 N.Y.S. 2d 860; Moyle v. Franz et al., 267 App. Div. 423; 46 N.Y.S. 2d 607; Moyle v. Franz et al., 47 N.Y.S. 484.
External links
- PDF of Olin R. Moyle v. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, New York Supreme Court, 1940
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