.@LuhmannAudrey points out that @The_ACNA and @MidwestAnglican have amassed a tremendous number of lawyers to deal with the pesky survivors.
twitter.com/LuhmannAudrey/status/1615945900538597383?s=20&t=iY_p406vCQ8W5U1L0nk7ew
Many of these lawyers have concerning conflicts of interest. Jeff Garrety, for instance, absolved Keith Hartsell of wrongdoing in his role as one of @the_acna chancellors, even though in his PRT role he was required not to investigate or render judgment.
acnatoo.org/acna-witnesses/a-deafening-silence
But the one lawyer who stands out to me is Assisting Chancellor Alec Smith, author of the infamous letter to @ArchbishopFoley, in which he slanders @ladyjessicahaze.
acnatoo.org/january-14-2022-alec-smith-letter-to-foley-beach
Alec's wife, Jill Smith, is the Senior Warden at @ChurchRez and Alec is a worship leader at Rez. Those conflicts of interest are bad enough, but there's more.
Alec Smith admits to @ArchbishopFoley that he has no training in canon law, though apparently, Stewart doesn't care if his @MidwestAnglican chancellors are qualified to do their jobs. (Charlie Philbrick's expertise was real estate.)
Given Alec's defense of Stewart in this letter and his insistence in the November "Family Meeting" that Stewart and his clergy weren't required to report child sexual abuse, I wanted to know more about Alec's credentials.
linkedin.com/in/alec-j-smith-21989b22/
From this LinkedIn page, it appears that Alec's main qualifications for commenting on child sexual abuse reporting are that he...defended abusers?
Alec says that he defended Marines against charges of rape, drugs, aggravated assault of a child, etc. He boasts that he achieved a "remarkable 40% full acquittal rate" for these Marines.
Perhaps it's common for JAGs to brag about their acquittal rate. I'd welcome input from other lawers on that one.
But I'll just say this: choosing an Assisting Chancellor without general counsel or religious experience but with plenty of experience defending rapists and child abusers says...a lot.
More importantly: If Alec is @midwestanglican Assisting Chancellor, who is he assisting? Did Stewart bring back Charlie Philbrick?
Did the @MidwestAnglican Bishop's Council approve of Alec Smith's defense of Stewart and others' actions and demanding the end of Stewart's leave of absence? Who is governing the UMD? A committee of representatives? Or just Stewart Ruch?