https://jwfiles.com/ News and primary-source research on the Watchtower organization en-us https://jwfiles.com/article/watchtower-russia-bethel-fsia-service-ruling-2026/ https://jwfiles.com/article/watchtower-russia-bethel-fsia-service-ruling-2026/ Tue, 28 Jul 2026 07:32:30 +0000 A federal judge in Washington threw the case out in September 2025 — not on its merits, but because the lawsuit papers had never been validly delivered. On 23 July 2026 he undid that dismissal, giving the Jehovah's Witnesses' Pennsylvania corporation 180 days to serve the Russian Federation, its health ministry and the state institute now using the site, this time through diplomatic channels. Documents filed with the complaint valued the property at more than $30 million. As of that opinion the court had decided nothing about whether a U.S. court can hear the claim at all. Legal https://jwfiles.com/article/thompson-zoller-watchtower-trafficking-suit-2026/ https://jwfiles.com/article/thompson-zoller-watchtower-trafficking-suit-2026/ Sun, 26 Jul 2026 13:09:23 +0000 Meleah Thompson says she was abused as a child by men connected to her Oregon congregation in the early 1990s and that elders, told of it, invoked the two-witness rule and expelled her instead. Her suit, filed 20 July 2026, argues the coerced sexual acts were 'services' under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and that Watchtower knowingly benefited from concealing them. The allegations are unproven and no defendant had responded on the docket as of 24 July. Legal https://jwfiles.com/article/jehovahs-witnesses-gloucester-township-pilot-tax-dismissal-2026/ https://jwfiles.com/article/jehovahs-witnesses-gloucester-township-pilot-tax-dismissal-2026/ Wed, 22 Jul 2026 17:39:58 +0000 A federal judge dismissed the congregation's bid to escape a 1999 payment-in-lieu-of-taxes deal on its Turnersville assembly hall, ruling only that a federal court is the wrong forum — she decided nothing about whether the hall is tax-exempt. The congregation appealed, then dropped the appeal on 21 July 2026, the day its opening brief was due, leaving that dismissal to stand. Legal https://jwfiles.com/article/watchtower-cloudflare-dmca-unmasking-2026/ https://jwfiles.com/article/watchtower-cloudflare-dmca-unmasking-2026/ Sat, 25 Jul 2026 07:43:58 +0000 Judge Kenneth M. Karas denied the anonymous Jehovah's Witness's motion to cancel a DMCA subpoena to Cloudflare on 21 July 2026, but the subpoena stays frozen and the archivist has not been identified: a fight over a protective order comes next. Legal https://jwfiles.com/article/jehovahs-witnesses-bethel-gmva-lawsuit-2026/ https://jwfiles.com/article/jehovahs-witnesses-bethel-gmva-lawsuit-2026/ Tue, 21 Jul 2026 17:05:08 +0000 Two of three defendant organizations have now appeared through counsel in this unproven Brooklyn abuse suit; the judge will decide the plaintiff's anonymity request on the papers, not at a hearing. Filed 16 June 2026 under a January 2026 amendment reviving decades-old claims and extending liability to institutions. Legal https://jwfiles.com/article/watchtower-gomes-de-souza-abuse-lawsuit-2025/ https://jwfiles.com/article/watchtower-gomes-de-souza-abuse-lawsuit-2025/ Wed, 22 Jul 2026 18:00:32 +0000 A judge paused this unproven $100 million case on 4 May 2026 at the Governing Body's request. The complaint, filed in Manhattan federal court on Nov. 12, 2025, alleges a Circuit Overseer abused Stella Cristina Gomes De Souza beginning at age 12 in Brazil and that Watchtower routed reports internally. The plaintiff asked the judge to reconsider on 18 May. A pause is not a dismissal. This account runs to the docket's last entry, 1 June 2026. Legal https://jwfiles.com/article/un-wgad-26-jehovahs-witnesses-russia-2026/ https://jwfiles.com/article/un-wgad-26-jehovahs-witnesses-russia-2026/ Mon, 20 Jul 2026 14:08:01 +0000 Opinion No. 30/2026 finds the detentions arbitrary under categories I, II and V and recommends release plus compensation. Russia responded nine days after the deadline, citing the extremism designation; the panel could not accept the reply as timely. The opinion is not binding, and the Working Group made no finding of torture or unfair trial. Legal https://jwfiles.com/article/un-human-rights-committee-vilitkevich-russia-2026/ https://jwfiles.com/article/un-human-rights-committee-vilitkevich-russia-2026/ Sat, 18 Jul 2026 14:17:57 +0000 The Committee's 13 March 2026 ruling found unlawful arrest, religious discrimination and denial of minority rights in a 2018 Ufa case, and ordered unspecified compensation. It also dismissed several claims, refused an earlier emergency request, and has no power to enforce anything. Legal https://jwfiles.com/article/new-york-watchtower-warne-abuse-records-2026/ https://jwfiles.com/article/new-york-watchtower-warne-abuse-records-2026/ Tue, 14 Jul 2026 18:24:54 +0000 In sister Child Victims Act cases over Robert Warne, a ministerial servant at a Middleport, N.Y. congregation, a court denied Watchtower's bid to shield its nationwide reports of known abusers and pierced clergy privilege over his confession letter — before both suits settled in 2026. The Governing Body was dismissed from one case and kept in the other. Legal https://jwfiles.com/article/watchtower-blue-lake-data-center-purchase-2026/ https://jwfiles.com/article/watchtower-blue-lake-data-center-purchase-2026/ Sat, 11 Jul 2026 07:14:58 +0000 Jehovah's Witnesses closed on the 432,989-square-foot 'Blue Lake' facility across the lake from their New York world headquarters on June 26, 2026, for an undisclosed price. Finance https://jwfiles.com/article/echr-italy-intesa-jehovahs-witnesses-2026/ https://jwfiles.com/article/echr-italy-intesa-jehovahs-witnesses-2026/ Fri, 10 Jul 2026 13:51:03 +0000 In a unanimous but not-yet-final Chamber judgment (application no. 49687/16), the ECHR held that Italy's decades-long failure to ratify an intesa kept Jehovah's Witnesses out of the otto per mille tax-funding system. The Court awarded EUR 10,000 and EUR 8,000 in costs, dismissing a claim that had sought more than EUR 200 million. Legal https://jwfiles.com/article/echr-velev-bulgaria-door-to-door-2026/ https://jwfiles.com/article/echr-velev-bulgaria-door-to-door-2026/ Fri, 10 Jul 2026 13:51:03 +0000 In Velev and Others v. Bulgaria, a unanimous ECHR Chamber found a Shumen ordinance banning "religious propaganda at residents' homes" violated Article 9. No damages were awarded, the applicants were never fined, and the ruling is not yet final. Legal https://jwfiles.com/article/germany-bgh-kusserow-archive-2026/ https://jwfiles.com/article/germany-bgh-kusserow-archive-2026/ Fri, 10 Jul 2026 13:51:03 +0000 Germany's Federal Court of Justice quashed a Cologne ruling and remanded the dispute over the Kusserow family archive held in a Dresden military museum. Ownership remains undecided. Legal https://jwfiles.com/article/sweden-jehovahs-witnesses-state-subsidy-2025/ https://jwfiles.com/article/sweden-jehovahs-witnesses-state-subsidy-2025/ Fri, 10 Jul 2026 13:50:18 +0000 Sweden's Agency for Support to Faith Communities (SST) ruled on 24 October 2025 that Jehovah's Witnesses failed new 'democracy conditions' for state grants, citing shunning and membership limits. On 7 May 2026 the Stockholm Administrative Court overturned the denial and ordered the grant restored; the agency has appealed. Legal https://jwfiles.com/article/watchtower-apostates-mentally-diseased-2011/ https://jwfiles.com/article/watchtower-apostates-mentally-diseased-2011/ Fri, 10 Jul 2026 13:07:41 +0000 A July 15, 2011 study article urged Jehovah's Witnesses to shun former members it described, citing 1 Timothy 6:3-4, as 'mentally diseased.' The wording drew UK press coverage, a Portsmouth police complaint that produced no charge, and an Australian tribunal filing. Doctrine https://jwfiles.com/article/georgia-jehovahs-witnesses-bible-study-abuse-lawsuit-2026/ https://jwfiles.com/article/georgia-jehovahs-witnesses-bible-study-abuse-lawsuit-2026/ Sat, 04 Jul 2026 19:59:12 +0000 A federal complaint filed February 13, 2026, alleges the Governing Body and three Watchtower entities failed to protect a Cordele teenager from more than 100 acts of abuse by his Bible-study instructor, who is separately convicted. The organization's alleged liability is unproven; the case is pending. Legal https://jwfiles.com/article/maine-fort-kent-jehovahs-witnesses-abuse-lawsuit-2025/ https://jwfiles.com/article/maine-fort-kent-jehovahs-witnesses-abuse-lawsuit-2025/ Sat, 04 Jul 2026 19:59:12 +0000 Shannon Simendinger's civil complaint, filed January 8, 2025 in Aroostook County Superior Court, names a Maine congregation, Watchtower's New York corporation, and three men; the allegations are unproven and the case is pending. Legal https://jwfiles.com/article/bodies-of-elders-child-abuse-letter-2012/ https://jwfiles.com/article/bodies-of-elders-child-abuse-letter-2012/ Sat, 04 Jul 2026 15:58:02 +0000 A confidential October 1, 2012 letter to U.S. bodies of elders routed child-abuse allegations through Watch Tower's Legal and Service Departments, kept the two-witness rule, and let the branch decide who counts as a "predator" — while saying nothing about reporting to secular authorities. Leadership https://jwfiles.com/article/echr-pindo-mulla-forced-blood-transfusion-spain-2024/ https://jwfiles.com/article/echr-pindo-mulla-forced-blood-transfusion-spain-2024/ Sat, 04 Jul 2026 15:58:02 +0000 In Pindo Mulla v. Spain, the ECHR Grand Chamber unanimously found that Spain breached Rosa Edelmira Pindo Mulla's rights when a duty judge authorized three transfusions during emergency surgery despite her advance written refusals. The Court faulted the decision-making process, not the doctors' medical judgment. Legal https://jwfiles.com/article/governing-body-higher-education-personal-decision-2025/ https://jwfiles.com/article/governing-body-higher-education-personal-decision-2025/ Sat, 04 Jul 2026 15:58:02 +0000 In Governing Body Update #5, released on jw.org on August 22, 2025, David Splane addressed 'additional secular education' and, per ex-member transcriptions, presented it more as a personal choice than the spiritual risk decades of Watchtower literature had described. Doctrine https://jwfiles.com/article/surviving-jehovahs-witnesses-hbo-docuseries-2026/ https://jwfiles.com/article/surviving-jehovahs-witnesses-hbo-docuseries-2026/ Sat, 04 Jul 2026 15:58:02 +0000 The three-part series Sobrevivir al Paraiso: Mas alla de los Testigos de Jehova premiered on HBO Max on 20 February 2026, tracing former Spanish members' accounts of abuse, shunning, and legal action. Reception has so far been mixed and thinly covered by major outlets. Media https://jwfiles.com/article/videoland-jehovah-van-god-los-documentary-2024/ https://jwfiles.com/article/videoland-jehovah-van-god-los-documentary-2024/ Sat, 04 Jul 2026 15:58:02 +0000 The three-part series, released March 2024 on RTL's streaming service, is built on testimony from 57 former members and covers abuse, shunning, and apocalyptic teaching. Media https://jwfiles.com/article/anthony-morris-removed-governing-body-2023/ https://jwfiles.com/article/anthony-morris-removed-governing-body-2023/ Sat, 04 Jul 2026 15:40:15 +0000 On February 22, 2023, the organization behind Jehovah's Witnesses announced in one sentence that Governing Body member Anthony Morris III 'no longer serves' — gave no reason — and then scrubbed his recorded talks from jw.org over the following weeks. Leadership https://jwfiles.com/article/australia-jehovahs-witnesses-national-redress-scheme-2021/ https://jwfiles.com/article/australia-jehovahs-witnesses-national-redress-scheme-2021/ Sat, 04 Jul 2026 15:40:15 +0000 Named in July 2020 among institutions refusing to join the National Redress Scheme, the organization agreed in March 2021 to comply after the government moved to strip holdout charities of their tax status. Legal https://jwfiles.com/article/belgium-cassation-jehovahs-witnesses-shunning-2023/ https://jwfiles.com/article/belgium-cassation-jehovahs-witnesses-shunning-2023/ Sat, 04 Jul 2026 15:40:15 +0000 The Court of Cassation on 19 December 2023 rejected the final appeals in the "Ghent case," affirming that limiting contact with disfellowshipped former members falls within freedom of religion and association. Legal https://jwfiles.com/article/echr-jehovahs-witnesses-finland-door-to-door-data-2023/ https://jwfiles.com/article/echr-jehovahs-witnesses-finland-door-to-door-data-2023/ Sat, 04 Jul 2026 15:40:15 +0000 The European Court of Human Rights ruled on 9 May 2023 that Finland may require Jehovah's Witnesses to obtain householder consent before noting personal data during their ministry — no violation of Articles 9 or 6. Legal https://jwfiles.com/article/governing-body-beards-personal-decision-2023/ https://jwfiles.com/article/governing-body-beards-personal-decision-2023/ Sat, 04 Jul 2026 15:40:15 +0000 A Governing Body Update dated December 15, 2023, and reportedly presented by Stephen Lett relaxed a decades-long grooming norm, reframing a neatly trimmed beard as a matter of personal conscience and local decision. Doctrine https://jwfiles.com/article/hawaii-40-million-abuse-award-jehovahs-witnesses-2023/ https://jwfiles.com/article/hawaii-40-million-abuse-award-jehovahs-witnesses-2023/ Sat, 04 Jul 2026 15:40:15 +0000 In 2023, Judge Dean Ochiai awarded a survivor known as N.D. $40 million against Kenneth Apana, a former Makaha congregation elder who did not defend the suit. The congregation and its entities settled separately and confidentially. Legal https://jwfiles.com/article/pennsylvania-grand-jury-jehovahs-witnesses-abuse-charges-2022/ https://jwfiles.com/article/pennsylvania-grand-jury-jehovahs-witnesses-abuse-charges-2022/ Sat, 04 Jul 2026 15:40:15 +0000 A statewide investigating grand jury opened in 2019 produced criminal charges against roughly nine men affiliated with Jehovah's Witnesses congregations, across waves announced by Attorneys General Josh Shapiro (2022) and Michelle Henry (2023), alongside scrutiny of how congregations handle abuse reports internally. Legal https://jwfiles.com/article/canada-supreme-court-wall-disfellowshipping-2018/ https://jwfiles.com/article/canada-supreme-court-wall-disfellowshipping-2018/ Sat, 04 Jul 2026 15:29:20 +0000 In Highwood Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses v. Wall, a unanimous Supreme Court of Canada held in 2018 that a religious group's decision to disfellowship a member is beyond judicial review — closing a legal avenue for the shunned. Legal https://jwfiles.com/article/netherlands-jehovahs-witnesses-abuse-study-2020/ https://jwfiles.com/article/netherlands-jehovahs-witnesses-abuse-study-2020/ Sat, 04 Jul 2026 15:29:20 +0000 Commissioned after survivors came forward and published over the organization's court challenge, the 2020 Utrecht University study documented 751 abuse reports and found the Witnesses' internal handling favored the community, not the victim. Legal https://jwfiles.com/article/russia-nationwide-raids-jehovahs-witnesses-2018/ https://jwfiles.com/article/russia-nationwide-raids-jehovahs-witnesses-2018/ Sat, 04 Jul 2026 15:29:20 +0000 By mid-2018 the 2017 "extremist" ban had become a countrywide campaign of home raids and prosecutions — dozens charged across more than a dozen regions, with masked officers and pre-trial detention. Legal https://jwfiles.com/article/shepherd-flock-elders-manual-leak-2019/ https://jwfiles.com/article/shepherd-flock-elders-manual-leak-2019/ Sat, 04 Jul 2026 15:29:20 +0000 The confidential 274-page "Shepherd the Flock of God" — which governs the Witnesses' judicial committees, the two-witness rule, and disfellowshipping — was leaked and published, exposing the internal disciplinary system to public view. Leadership https://jwfiles.com/article/uk-court-of-appeal-watchtower-charity-commission-2016/ https://jwfiles.com/article/uk-court-of-appeal-watchtower-charity-commission-2016/ Sat, 04 Jul 2026 14:58:21 +0000 The Court of Appeal refused to quash the Charity Commission's inquiry into how the Jehovah's Witnesses' British charity handles abuse allegations — the next-to-last round of a fight the Watch Tower would ultimately lose. Legal https://jwfiles.com/article/charity-commission-manchester-new-moston-safeguarding-2017/ https://jwfiles.com/article/charity-commission-manchester-new-moston-safeguarding-2017/ Sat, 04 Jul 2026 14:58:21 +0000 A 2017 Charity Commission inquiry into the Manchester New Moston congregation found trustees mishandled abuse allegations — including an internal hearing where victims were questioned by the man they accused. Legal https://jwfiles.com/article/palmer-leaks-jehovahs-witnesses-abuse-documents-2018/ https://jwfiles.com/article/palmer-leaks-jehovahs-witnesses-abuse-documents-2018/ Sat, 04 Jul 2026 14:58:21 +0000 The "Palmer Leaks" — 33 confidential documents published by the transparency site FaithLeaks — detailed how Jehovah's Witnesses elders and headquarters handled abuse allegations inside one congregation. Leadership https://jwfiles.com/article/quebec-class-action-jehovahs-witnesses-abuse-2017/ https://jwfiles.com/article/quebec-class-action-jehovahs-witnesses-abuse-2017/ Sat, 04 Jul 2026 14:58:21 +0000 A former member sought to sue the organization on behalf of Quebecers abused as children in its congregations, alleging a "culture of silence." A court authorized the class action in 2019. Legal https://jwfiles.com/article/padron-watchtower-discovery-sanctions-2017/ https://jwfiles.com/article/padron-watchtower-discovery-sanctions-2017/ Sat, 04 Jul 2026 14:58:21 +0000 In the Padron case, an appeals court upheld daily discovery sanctions against the Watchtower over its refusal to produce responses to a 1997 abuse-reporting letter — and held it couldn't object to a penalty it had once sought itself. Legal https://jwfiles.com/article/russia-bans-new-world-translation-bible-extremist-2017/ https://jwfiles.com/article/russia-bans-new-world-translation-bible-extremist-2017/ Sat, 04 Jul 2026 14:58:21 +0000 In 2017 a Russian court declared the Witnesses' New World Translation "extremist" — sidestepping a law that protects scripture by accepting expert testimony that the translation was not really a Bible. Legal https://jwfiles.com/article/russia-warns-jehovahs-witnesses-liquidation-2016/ https://jwfiles.com/article/russia-warns-jehovahs-witnesses-liquidation-2016/ Sat, 04 Jul 2026 14:58:21 +0000 In March 2016 the Prosecutor General's office told the Witnesses' Russian headquarters it faced dissolution for "extremist activity," and a Moscow court rejected the appeal that autumn — the paper trail to the 2017 ban. Legal