Here is a breaking news article:
[Updated 18 May
2009]: The action by the NSA finally gets the attention of the press. Click here for information about the Chicago
Tribune's article about the action pending in the Court of Appeals for the
Seventh Circuit in Chicago, Illinois. The
appeal was brought by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the
United States (NSA), located in Wilmette, Illinois, after it lost its contempt
motion against members of the Orthodox Bahá'í Faith
[Revised 28
February 2009] The parties are awaiting the decision of the Court of Appeals
for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago, Illinois in the appeal brought by the
National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States (NSA), located
in Wilmette, Illinois, after it lost its contempt motion against members of the
Orthodox Bahá'í Faith and the Bahá'ís Under the Provisions of the Covenant,
which are two separate and distinct entities.
The NSA had
called upon the United States District Court for the Northern District of
Illinois, Eastern Division to hold in contempt members of both minority Bahá'í
organizations who, the NSA claimed, were in violation of an injunction its
predecessor obtained some 40 years ago against a rival Bahá'í body (the NSA
loyal to Mason Remey).
In legal
documents provided to the court on December 6, 2006, the NSA claimed that
members of the current minority Bahá'í groups, although not parties to the case
brought against the NSA loyal to Mason Remey, nevertheless are bound by the
1966 Judgment. While not providing any
specifics with regard to how the minority bodies have harmed the majority body,
the NSA contended that the websites (including this one) of the smaller
organizations were doing irreparable damage to the NSA.
The basic
contention of the NSA was that the members of the minority groups were
violating the NSA's alleged trademarks on the name "Bahá'í" and the
religious symbol of the "Greatest Name", and it sought from the court
a ruling which would prohibit the minority members from using the alleged
trademarks to the detriment of the NSA.
The NSA sought
to restrain both those individuals who at one time were even remotely
associated with the enjoined rival Bahá'í body and any 'nonparty' members who
have since developed different Bahá'í organizations.
Those members
of the minority group who call themselves
Orthodox Bahá'ís, to distinguish themselves from the members of the
majority organization, stated that the trademark by the Wilmette NSA on the
"Greatest Name" is the equivalent of a Christian denomination trademarking
the Cross and then saying that no other Christian congregation can use that
symbol in their activities or in their contacts with others.
Additionally,
Orthodox Bahá'ís maintain that the name "Bahá'í" is in the public
domain and cannot be the exclusive property of one organization. They say that
like the name "Christian" and "Muhammadan", which refer to
followers of Christ and Muhammad respectively, the name "Bahá'í"
refers to a follower of Bahá'u'lláh, who all Bahá'ís acknowledge as the latest
Prophet from God.
For some 35
years the Orthodox Bahá'ís have been employing the name "Bahá'í" in
their newspaper and magazine publicity and in the telephone Yellow Pages, and
during that time the NSA has made no move to implement the provisions of the
injunction that the majority organization is now using to seek contempt
citations against members of the minority groups. Should the NSA be successful
in its efforts to curtail their activities, Orthodox Bahá'ís contend that, for
them, the First Amendment of the Constitution is no longer valid.
The NSA on 23
May 2008 filed an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Chicago
Trial January 7, 2008 005 Seventh Circuit of a ruling that the Orthodox Bahá'ís
were not in contempt of a injunction entered in 1966 against the NSA loyal to
Mason Remey."[T]he chain of successorship lacks a link," wrote the
Honorable Amy J. St Eve, United States District Court Judge,in her Judgment in
favor of the Orthodox Bahá'í Faith and the Bahá'í Publishers Under the
Provisions of the Covenant. The Court ruled on 23 April 2008 after holding an
evidentiary hearing on 7 January 2008 in Chicago, Illinois on the contempt
motion brought by the NSA. In her decision, the Court stated that: "the
vast weight of the record (including credible testimony) reflects that there
was a significant doctrinal rift on a critical tenet of each group’s faith, and
that the PNBC’s membership varied materially from that of the NSA-UHG. The
record further reflects a demonstrable lack of intent to violate the
injunction, and that the PNBC was not created to avoid the effect of the
injunction. Simply put, there is no substantial continuity between the NSA-UHG
and the PNBC, and, as a result, Mr. Schlatter, Mr. Marangella, and the PNBC
have not violated the injunction."
The appellate
case had been fully briefed when the parties argued in Chicago Illinois on 20
February 2009 before a panel of Judges of the Court of Appeals: the Honorable
Daniel A. Manion, the Honorable William J. Bauer, and the Honorable Diane S.
Sykes.
Appearing on
behalf of the Orthodox Bahá'ís was James McClymonds, a New York attorney who is
the grandson of A.S. Petzoldt, the chairman of the NSA under the Hereditary
Guardianship (under Mason Remey) and whose deposition was taken by the NSA in
the original case. James was a small
child when his grandfather expressed the wish that someone would one day come
forward to overturn the outrageous judgment that the Wilmette NSA had obtained
against Remey's NSA.
The appellate
briefs and a recording of the oral argument held on 20 February 2009 are
available on the web site of the Court of Appeals of the Seventh Circuit in
Chicago Illinois:
Appellate
Briefs: http://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/briefs.htm
Enter the Year = "08" and the Case Number =
"2306" Then click "List
Cases", then click the Case Number for a listing of the briefs in PDF
format.
Article on the
Oral Argument with Transcribed Portion of NSA Argument
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