27 Dresses - I Mean Duggar Threads (Now, with Duggar women lawsuit discussion!)

[Jess]

25 minutes ago, mpheels said:

I hope the attorneys working for InTouch can see through Jim Bob's motivations, and stipulate that any settlement $$ goes into trusts accessible only to the four sisters, based on JB/Michelle's failure to properly respond to the initial molestation incidents. They could even increase the amount of $$ offered - either the Duggars accept and undercut JB's cash grab, or they reject the offer and publicly expose JB's methods for controlling his adult children. 

It would be highly unusual to place money going to mentally competent adults in a trust. Also, no lawyer would ever give a check to another person the check goes the client. I am surprised the girls have the same lawyers.

Usually to avoid conflict of interest lawyers wouldn't take all four on as clients and they would have different attorneys to protect their different interests. For example Jill and Jessa gave the interview which arguably increased attention. It isn't a clear cut conflict of interest issue now, but you don't know what will be uncovered during discovery if something comes up the lawyers would have to drop all four so to protect themselves lawyers don't typically risk it. 

Recovery would likely be split evenly between the four sisters unless one had more damages  for some reason. For example if one got diagnosed with an anxiety disorder as a result and had medical records to prove it. 

The checks would only be given to the girls never ever would any lawyer give the checks Jim Bob. The girls could then put the money in the family account or give him part of it but no lawyer would give it directly to him. 

[luv2laugh]

No. These greedy girls don't deserve a dime and I will be laughing when they come out empty and lose.

[socalrules]

They aren't going to get $15 million. No one settles for anywhere near what for what they are asking. Also, you can't make the money be put in a trust to ensure Jim Bob doesn't touch it. They are adult women who are legally entitled to do whatever they want with the money. If they later want daddy to control it once they receive it, that is their right. You also can't blackmail them with more money to do as you want or information about the Jim Bob will be released. That's illegal. 

The case is about the release of information, not the molestation itself. The court isn't going to allow the litigation to delve into how the parents responded to the molestation because it isn't relevant nor the molestation itself. Nor is a judge going to make any ruling about how Jim Bob responded to the molestation.  The law doesn't work that way. The only issue is whether the information was released in accordance with the law. That is what the case is all the case is about. You can't make it about the underlying molestation when it is not. Even had the parents immediately responded appropriately to the molestation, this lawsuit could still have occurred because the information could still have been released based on the FOIA. 

[Mrs.Right]

What makes me sick about them suing and potentially getting the money (even if there is a stipulation as to who gets the money), we all know the girls will hand over money to Jim Bob. And who will JB hand the money over to because he can't find work, yes that's right, the perp in all this. 

[foreign fundie]

I have been trying to figure out why I am so uncomfortable with the daughters suing, even though I think it was not right their identities could be so easily guessed. I think for me it boils down to enmeshment. (Wiki:Enmeshment is a concept introduced by Salvador Minuchin to describe families where personal boundaries are diffused, sub-systems undifferentiated, and over-concern for others leads to a loss of autonomous development.[1]) )

We don't really know who is behind this lawsuit, but assume naturally it involves the parents. We have never known these daughters to take any action independent from their family or opposed to their parents. They are up to now completely absorbed in their family brand/ business/ cult. To protect that, they publicly deny the touching was a big deal, they say it is normal and happens in most families, they praise their parents' handling of the situation and they still form one united front, including Josh and the parents. 

So when they sue, it does not feel to people outside (like many of us) that four victims want to get compensation. It feels like a hypocritical family, use a situation they more or less asked for, to grab money, while pretending to be concerned about other victims of a crime they essentially deny.

As long as these girls do not put some distance between themselves and their brother and parents, or at least acknowledge either of them made serious mistakes, many people will find it hard to feel sympathy. Rightly or wrongly.

[VelociRapture]

Guys, most of the time the plaintiffs in a lawsuit will ask for the maximum amount they can possibly receive. It doesn't mean they expect to be awarded that amount if they win. It's a smart legal decision to ask for the max - I don't know if they would be eligible for the maximum allowed if they don't ask for it.

(FJ Lawyers, please correct if I'm wrong.)

ETA: And I just want to remind people to please try to be respectful. Whether you agree with the lawsuit or not doesn't change what happened to these young women when they were minors.

2 hours ago, singsingsing said:

No, and I didn't think that the person whose comment I was referencing (which turns out to be you!) was implying that at all. I was just using that vaguely remembered comment as a jumping off point for my personal stream of consciousness re: redaction.  

Lol! My bad. Thanks!

[Hmmm_idolatry]

6 hours ago, Carm_88 said:

Jill, you hope that your lawsuit sends the message that releasing the names of juveniles is never ok. First of all, you outed yourself. Yes, it may have been easy to figure out from the police report, but you confirmed it by doing that interview. Secondly, your parents are still to blame for this.

This!  All of it.  

Yes, they are victims and they did not deserve in any way, shape, or form to be sexually assaulted.  They did nothing to bring on the abuse, despite what their batshit crazy cult leader Gothard preaches.  However, they outed themselves.  They ran to the media to talk about this very publicly after their show was canceled.  

I've no doubt that they are victims; but at the end of the day, there were no laws broken when these records were released.  Their names were redacted in accordance with the laws.  We all know that at any given time, there are approximately 85 people in that house, the vast majority of them children-relatives, children of the Duggars, and children of other cult members.  It could just has easily been other children who were assaulted.  We never would have known who the victims were except that the Duggar daughters went to the media and outed themselves. Until it's proven otherwise, I still believe that this is all just another attempt by their idiot father to get money and publicity.  

I cannot believe that the attorneys would be okay with Jill publicly commenting on the lawsuit before the case has reached the court.  

[WiseGirl]

Hmmmm so many thoughts, but just looking at it legally, I don't believe that In Touch will settle. Many mentions of LA lawyers, but I would guess In Touch has good lawyers too and would want to prove they know how to follow/use the FOIA. However, I could be wrong. 

[luv2laugh]

I would just looove to win multi-millions to spend time all day lounging around in my skirt in my McMansion, set with a pool out back, and pop out babies like a pez dispenser while sitting utop a mountain of undeserved millions of cash. I'd be preaching Godly submission to the world since I'm such an oh so holy role model. Also, vacationing to the tropics AKA "cintral America" twice a year for ocean front beach views.

[RosyDaisy]

I'm not sure the Duggars didn't know the police report was about to be leaked. On the last episode of 19 KAC (Diggin In With The Duggars), there was so much tension in that room. Something was up, and I think we know why. Plus, it's highly possible somebody tipped JB off.

[Coconut Flan]

The police chief blatantly said the Duggars were notified when FOIA request came in. 

[Cleopatra7]

1 hour ago, Hmmm_idolatry said:

I've no doubt that they are victims; but at the end of the day, there were no laws broken when these records were released.  Their names were redacted in accordance with the laws.

Due to the nature of tabloids, I would think that InTouch and similar publications know exactly what they can and cannot print. In my non-expert opinion, Charlie Sheen would have had more reason to sue the Enquirer for outing him as HIV positive, but I could be wrong. The Duggar police records were public and there's no way around it. As others have said, the only way anyone would have known that Jill and Jessa were victims is because they publicly outed themselves. Given the Duggars' atrocious behavior on that BS sexual abuse special, I don't think they give a flying fig about raising awareness. After all, didn't they say that 1/3 of the families they know have experienced something similar? 

[HarleyQuinn]

I can't see In Touch settling. Tabloids have to have very strong lawyer games to keep in business. At least I would assume so. They're not going to pay out to some Z list "celebrities" of all people, especially when it seems like they're in the right legally. 

[candygirl200413]

If only their incompetent parents took care of this when it happened, no one would have known!

[snickers34]

2 hours ago, socalrules said:

Also, you can't make the money be put in a trust to ensure Jim Bob doesn't touch it. They are adult women who are legally entitled to do whatever they want with the money.

Yep, I'm well aware. It was just  wishful thinking in a non-existent universe. 

[zygote373]

2 hours ago, RosyDaisy said:

I'm not sure the Duggars didn't know the police report was about to be leaked. On the last episode of 19 KAC (Diggin In With The Duggars), there was so much tension in that room. Something was up, and I think we know why. Plus, it's highly possible somebody tipped JB off.

They definitely hadn't been informed by the police department yet.

I still have it on my DVR (don't ask), so I just checked. Jill said Israel was 4 weeks old the day it was filmed; that would make it May 4th. The FOIA request wasn't submitted to the police department until May 15th. 

I do agree it's possible there were rumors people were looking into this story, and that the Duggars heard them. I would think In Touch would've had to do some digging to gather info before they filed the actual request for files.

[Shadoewolf]

The Duggars have been known to fudge timelines before. So anything Jill says in relation to time I personally take with a grain of salt.

[Chickenbutt]

I wonder how the fifth victim feels about this. And what, if any, action this will prompt on her behalf.

[VelociRapture]

16 minutes ago, Chickenbutt said:

I wonder how the fifth victim feels about this. And what, if any, action this will prompt on her behalf.

Personally, I hope the media just continues to respect her privacy. If she eventually decides to step forward then I hope she is able to do so on her own terms. If not, then I simply hope that she's doing ok, whoever she is.

[Chickenbutt]

I hope she is surrounded by love and support. I hope she has people in her life that are more concerned with her well being than the all mighty dollar.

[Shadoewolf]

That's the part I'm most worried about. A jury trial and deposition are going to blow the Duggars wide open but could the 5th victim get outed in the legal process? If so that makes me sad.

[Jess]

2 minutes ago, Shadoewolf said:

That's the part I'm most worried about. A jury trial and deposition are going to blow the Duggars wide open but could the 5th victim get outed in the legal process? If so that makes me sad.

I imagine they would all take great care not to out her. She most likely is not a public figure and would have a better legal case against anyone who outed her then the Dugan girls. 

[Casserole]

24 minutes ago, Shadoewolf said:

That's the part I'm most worried about. A jury trial and deposition are going to blow the Duggars wide open but could the 5th victim get outed in the legal process? If so that makes me sad.

If a lawsuit about wrongfully outing victims outed another victim, we'd have even bigger issues. 

You know InTouch has a heavy hitting legal team who I'm sure goes up against much deeper pockets who have actual celebrity status. However sleazy they may be, they certainly cross their T's and dot their I's before press and make sure they're operating within the law (however much they may be walking a fine line and operating in gray areas.) I don't see this lawsuit ever making it to a court room. 

[VelociRapture]

For anyone interested, this is an article from an Arkansas news source. It includes the statement made by the city, in which they state the family was fully informed about the request, kept updated, and that they closely followed the law. They also state that there was some sort of legal action about it two years ago?

http://www.nwahomepage.com/news/duggar-sisters-suing-city-for-releasing-molestation-documents/717112740

ETA: Obviously, the city is going to defend itself. The facts of the case will show whether they're correct in their assessment.

[Hmmm_idolatry]

Is it silly that for this non-Arkansas person, every time I see the term NWA, I think of Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, and Easy-E?