GRAND MASTER AND GRAND LODGE non involvement

[jermy Bell]

I am embarrassed to say that I am a member of Illinois grand lodge. We have had issues with a brother, that loves to beat his wife, found out he lied on his application, he has been to court many times for domestic violence, threatened other brothers with physical harm, so we brought masonic charges against him, did all the paper work, etc etc, and beaten with the Constitution.now we have played by the rules, and have followed our Constitution and bylaws to the letter, when we ask the grand lodge and grand master for help, we get we don't wanna look bad and don't wanna get involved, so, finally they send the area GMDD, TO SCARE the lodge with how much money it will cost the lodge for a trial. And that it was more than likely not be in our favor to get this brother out, he is also a shriner and they don't wanna get involved. I and others see that our lodge, ( what is left of it ) and grand lodge is crooked. This problem is known quite well at least 75 miles in each direction. If this is how Grand Lodges handle things, it's no wonder that masonry is becoming a thing of the past.

 

[Illuminatio]

Wow, also in Illinois here and have thought pretty highly of our GM. Haven't heard of any reason not to thus far. Just curious, what exactly was their reasoning/wording or did they literally say "we don't want to look bad and don't want to get involved"? I'd have to think you'd get a more concise and professional answer than that based on other correspondence I've read.

 

[Ripcord22A]

@dfreybur thoughts?

Sent from my LG-H811 using My Freemasonry mobile app

 

[Matt L]

In my jurisdiction, if the Brother is not a PM the JW of the lodge can press charges and a Masonic trial is held in the lodge. A summons is sent to each member and the Brother in question. The defendant can have Masonic council or the Master can appoint one. After the facts are relayed during the trial the lodge votes.
Sad to say I have had to sit though two Masonic trials, one case a Brother relieved the lodge of a twelve thousand dollars, the other was as a disinterested PM judge in another.
It is a Masonic Offense to lie on your petition. If we don't police ourselves, what good is our word in the community.

 

[Bloke]

In my jurisdiction, if the Brother is not a PM the JW of the lodge can press charges and a Masonic trial is held in the lodge. A summons is sent to each member and the Brother in question. The defendant can have Masonic council or the Master can appoint one. After the facts are relayed during the trial the lodge votes.
Sad to say I have had to sit though two Masonic trials, one case a Brother relieved the lodge of a twelve thousand dollars, the other was as a disinterested PM judge in another.
It is a Masonic Offense to lie on your petition. If we don't police ourselves, what good is our word in the community.

No powers for a WM to suspend him ?

Has he actually been convicted of a criminal offense? That'd be important as a trigger for our GL to get involved. Without a conviction, you'd need to look at local strategies to manage him out, but the WM'S support to do so would be very important..

 

[Warrior1256]

This certainly doesn't sound good!

 

[Matt L]

The WM has the power to bar the Brother from the lodge. A conviction is not needed to charge the man with un-masonic conduct. I have knowledge of a brother who's charges were dropped in court, but was still expelled for un-masonic conduct.
The OP needs someone very familiar with the Masonic code in his jurisdiction to look into this.

 

[Bill Lins]

No powers for a WM to suspend him ?

Under GLoTX, the WM of a Lodge has no authority to suspend a Brother- only the GM can do so. Now, if the Brother is finally convicted of a felony, he is automatically expelled. If it can be proven that he lied on his petition, then Masonic charges can be filed. More often, the offending Brother is persuaded to withdraw.

 

[Glen Cook]

The WM has the power to bar the Brother from the lodge.

......

Depending on the jurisdiction

 

[jermy Bell]

They decided to go to trial by commission, GL, sent someone to explain what a commission was and how much it was gonna cost for everything, Now with that being said, we have all the proof of the conviction, we have proof of the false information on the application, we in the beginning had several meetings with several people from our GL. stating that this issue would be taken care of. And knowing what corruption we have in our lodge and the issues we faced in our lodge. Then, it came to you have to fill out all this paper work and file it with the GL SEC. we did all this. , then it was this brother has rights, and could possibly sue, having all the evidence against him to terminate his membership right then and there. Then instead of the GL taking over like we were mislead, and yes the direct words was they rather not get involved, with making any decisions, SO,with the thought having to spend maybe thousands of dollars, the lodge dropped the charges against the brother, and 3 more people quit our lodge because they won't sit in a lodge with a wife beater and convict. With all the evidence, paperwork that was to go straight to the GM in the beginning, this problem would had and should had been taken care of, but was not just because no one wanted to look bad or wanted the threat of being sued.

 

[dfreybur]

I have corresponded with Brother Bell on this topic a few months ago. At the time I did get confused and ended up sending him California contact data rather than Illinois contact data.

In Illinois, as in many jurisdictions, you need to send the Gr Sec a certified copy of the court record of a felony conviction. As a part of a standard package of forms to file Masonic charges and request a Masonic trial. Seeing the certified copy of a felony conviction, the Gr Sec sends for his own certified copy to double check. Once that is received the Gr Sec reports to the WMGM and there is an immediate expulsion. No trial is needed. Is happens a few times every year in the state.

The details of the process are different from state to state but the outcome is common to a lot of jurisdictions - The Gr Sec has no options once the first certified copy of the conviction is received from the accuser. The MWGM has no options once the second certified copy is received from the Gr Sec. The accused is expelled without a trial happening.

The events make no sense to me at this point. I'd march to the Gr Sec office during the day, thump down another certified copy of the court record of conviction and demand an immediate expulsion. None of this talk about "looking bad" makes any sense. Only a few years ago GL of Illinois expelled a Governor of the state who had contributed vast amounts of money to Masonic charities when that Governor was convicted. Technically placed on suspension pending an appeal then expelled the next year when the appeal failed.

I have started asking around with Brothers still in Illinois. Br Bell, which lodge? I take it contacting them directly would be a bad idea, so indirect asking around has been started.

 

[Glen Cook]

I wasn't clear it is a felony conviction.

As I understand it, the lodge may still file charges. Is that correct?

 

[dfreybur]

I wasn't clear it is a felony conviction.

That's an important point. If it was a misdemeanor conviction there's no automatic expulsion. Not everyone gets the sharp distinction between felony and other levels of conviction. Especially since spousal battery is a crime of moral turpitude. Masonic law cares about felony or moral turpitude. One has a formal definition that is easily tested the other does not.

As I understand it, the lodge may still file charges. Is that correct?

In specific the JW writes the paperwork, the lodge votes at the next Stated Meeting to accept or reject the charges. In the case of a felony this process should be short circuited and go directly from the Gr Sec to the WMGM in Illinois and many other jurisdictions.