In a decisive sweep, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has dismissed a lawsuit brought by James Huntsman against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Huntsman had accused the LDS Church of fraudulently using his tithing donations for commercial projects, specifically the development of the City Creek Center in Utah. This assertion, however, was rejected by an en banc panel of 11 judges, as reported by The Salt Lake Tribune, ruling that "no reasonable juror" could find the church guilty of misrepresenting the use of funds.
Huntsman, who is also the brother of former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., initiated the lawsuit in California and sought the return of $5 million in donations. According to ABC4, Huntsman's contributions from 1993 to 2015 included over $1 million in cash, 20,000 shares of Huntsman Corporation stock, and 1,800 shares of Sigma Designs stock. In the course of the lawsuit, the church contended that the City Creek project was funded through earnings from invested reserves, not direct tithing funds.
The lawsuit dismissal aligns with the church's long-standing assertion that while tithing funds are among the sources of the church's reserves, it is the earnings from these reserves that finance commercial ventures. Church spokesperson Doug Andersen, in an emailed statement, emphasized that tithing donations are "considered sacred" and committed to the church's global mission. "We welcome this decision," Andersen said, "inasmuch as the church has consistently affirmed that funds used for the City Creek project came from the earnings of invested reserve funds and not from donations," as recounted by The Salt Lake Tribune.
This second dismissal in four years sets a precedent for similar tithing-related lawsuits. Jeremy Rosen, a partner at Horvitz & Levy stated, as per Deseret News, that the 9th Circuit's opinions, though not binding in the 10th Circuit, carry persuasive influence. He predicted that if the 10th Circuit diverged from this ruling, the case could near-instantly land at the Supreme Court's steps for likely overturn. Meanwhile, Huntsman withheld initial comment on the ruling as his legal team reviewed the decision.
