A federal judge granted summary judgment sought by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in litigation that questioned whether member tithes were misused.
As previously reported, James Huntsman sued the Church alleging that it spent parishioner tithes on commercial real estate projects instead of on missionary work, temple construction, and charitable projects.
“The judge dug deeply into the financial records that the church provided to him and on the basis of the unopposed facts that were revealed in those records, he came to the decision we believed in and hoped he would,” said Rick Richmond, a Los Angeles based attorney representing the Church.
Huntsman, the brother of wealthy Mormon businessman and former Utah governor Jon Huntsman Jr., filed the complaint on March 22 in the Central District of California seeking a refund of some $5 million he allegedly tithed along with interest and penalties.
But because U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson could not find any evidence of fraudulent statements made by church officials about spending earnings on invested tithes on commercial projects as opposed to spending tithes on commercial projects, he granted dismissal.
“Plaintiff offers no evidence that creates a genuine issue of material fact,” Wilson wrote in the Sept. 10 decision. “Plaintiff does not argue that earnings on invested tithing funds were not actually used. For example, plaintiff does not identify any specific flaws in the accounting or calculations provided by the defendant’s declarant. Instead, the plaintiff simply argues that there is no distinction between tithing funds and earnings on invested tithing funds.”
Huntsman’s attorney, David Jonelis, did not immediately respond to requests for comment but the Salt Lake City Tribune reported that he plans to appeal
“The church will defend itself on appeal,” Richmond told the Southern California Record.
In his decision, Judge Wilson stopped short of evaluating the philosophy of the Mormon church or its practices.
“The court concludes that the instant case presents a purely secular dispute,” Wilson stated. “To resolve the dispute, no analysis of church policy or doctrine is necessary nor must a court or jury determine whether those policies or doctrine allowed defendant to spend tithing funds on the City Creek project.”
Judge Wilson disagreed with the Church’s argument that the First Amendment barred Huntsman's claim based on the particular facts of the case.
“Federal judges are supposed to avoid constitutional issues if they can decide a case on other grounds,” Richmond said. "If a judge can decide a case on more narrow grounds or ‘legal’ grounds that are not constitutional, then a good judge will do that.”