Vol. I · Saturday, September 19, 2026 RSS  ·  Search  ·  About

News and primary-source research on the Watchtower organization

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BrazilConfirmed

Brazil's Supreme Court lists 30 September to resume its judgment on transfusions given against a patient's refusal

Illustration: a wall calendar with one date circled above a judicial bench rail holding two case files, an open statute book and an hourglass

On 28 August 2026 the STF's president, Edson Fachin, put ADPF 618 and ADPF 642 on the plenary calendar for 30 September. The merits judgment opened in a virtual session in 2025 and has been suspended twice by justices asking to study the file; the dockets record two justices' positions. Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania and the Associação das Testemunhas Cristãs de Jeová are admitted friends of the court in ADPF 618.

Pennsylvania statewide grand-jury investigationConfirmed

Inside Pennsylvania's Grand-Jury Investigation of Jehovah's Witnesses Abuse Cases (2019–2023)

Illustration: a gavel and indictment before a keystone motif

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.

The $40 million judgment names one man who did not contest it; the church's separate settlement stays sealed.Confirmed

A Hawaii Judge Awarded $40 Million Against a Former Jehovah's Witnesses Elder. It Was Not a Verdict Against the Organization.

Illustration: scales and gavel beside an island motif

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.