One of the reasons to carefully consider the hazards and risks of litigation, both before going down that path, and while mapping out litigation strategy, is that today’s inflammatory rhetoric may be part of tomorrow’s press release.
If nothing else, a prudent attorney recognizes that court filings are matters of public record, and inevitably will reflect on both the filing attorney and his client. Thus, there is never any excuse for treating the other party with disrespect or contempt.
Of course, that goes without saying for a church, where such behavior should be normative.
But Grace Episcopal is not a normal church, and neither Bob Malm nor the vestry make these issues a priority; indeed, disrespect and abusive conduct appears to be perfectly acceptable, and there is no evidence to suggest that either Bob Malm, nor the Diocese of Virginia, have ever weighed in to say, “This does not comport with our promise to respect the dignity of every human being.” Nor have I ever seen evidence that suggests that this is a factor in Bob Malm’s decisionmaking.
So, at this point, I am very happy to let Sugarland Chiow’s pleadings, made on behalf of Grace Church and Bob Malm, speak for themselves. With that in mind, I am working to make sure that people nationwide know that this is a church that refers to its former members as “terrorists,” and thinks filing civil actions against them is okay.
Something about in the tongue is the power of life and death…being a priest, maybe Bob has even heard that phrase somewhere. Or maybe not.
