Jury Finds Rabbi Greer Guilty

by Christopher Peak | Sep 25, 2019 12:13 pm

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Posted to: Legal Writes, Religion, Edgewood

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posted by: Patricia Kane on September 25, 2019 1:52pm Congratulations to Mr. Mirlis for having the strength to testify to the truth of his experience, to the hard working prosecutorial team, Judge Alander for his skill in overseeing the trial, to the expert witness and to the former students who also testified as to Greer’s predatory pattern and to the jurors for their attention and patience.

Justice has waited decades for this moment.

posted by: david m. lesser on September 25, 2019 2:53pm And let’s not forget to thank Mr. Dow, who put on a strong and spirited defense for the defendant, and thus forced the State to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Good defense attorneys like Mr. Dow are necessary for keeping the power of the State within its proper limits.

David Lesser

posted by: berkeley on September 25, 2019 3:18pm How do people think they can get away with this behavior? I hope he goes to jail for good.

posted by: AverageTaxpayer on September 25, 2019 4:34pm Please tell me the Greers aren’t still getting $500,000-$1,000,000/year in State of CT grants for their real estate empire.

posted by: dad101 on September 25, 2019 5:20pm if his finances were seized from the civil trial where the is he getting enough to cover that kind of bond that his attorney didn’t even flinch?

posted by: EPDP on September 25, 2019 5:41pm The State made a compelling closing argument that Eli Mirlis was unable to report the molestation and abuse to the adults who surrounded Greer, who were involved in the school and Greer’s non-profits. 14 year old Eli Mirlis felt that these adults knew what was going on and would have done nothing to stop it if he reported the abuse. This verdict is long overdue, but unfortunately the enablers who protect abusers and pedophiles never face justice. I have reported on this case in my blog since 2016. I do not get any personal pleasure when Mr. Greer, or anyone else for that matter, goes to jail, as I have spent 18 months in Federal prison myself and I would not wish incarceration on my worst enemy. But Mr. Greer presents a physical danger to others and should be in jail, regardless of his age. After speaking with numerous child sexual assault victims, who reached out to me, they express more anger towards the adults who protected and enabled pedophiles like Mr. Greer for decades, than the actual abuser himself. I hope that this highly publicized verdict will give others who have been abused the strength to come forward. As for other pedophiles, enablers and protectors of abusers, beware of Larry Noodles!

Larry Noodles

http://www.larrynoodles.com

posted by: elainect on September 25, 2019 5:46pm It is not true that Greer was a moving force in helping Soviet refusniks leave the Soviet Union, as this article suggests. Many people, many organizations, many government agencies were involved. To give such a convicted sexual deviant any credit is a mistake and an insult. Perhaps the article’s author bought into Greer’s p.r.

posted by: 02150 on September 25, 2019 7:35pm Thank you, David Lesser. A very important point, well put.

posted by: Mike Lawlor on September 25, 2019 8:54pm For context, here is Dan Greer’s testimony before the Judiciary Committee on February 11, 2002: REP. LAWLOR: Thank you. Rabbi Greer.

RABBI DANIEL GREER: Good afternoon, Senator Coleman, Representative Lawlor, members of the Committee on Judiciary. I’m Rabbi Daniel Greer, representing the local Connecticut chapters and members of Agudath Israel of America, a national Orthodox Jewish organization.

Agudath Israel opposes raised H.B. 5001 and H.B. 5002. I am also here as Dean of the Asheba of New Haven, a Jewish school with classes from nursery through high school in New Haven and I’m appearing on behalf of our parents and staff and those of other Orthodox Jewish day schools throughout our state to urge defeat of this legislation.

Again, by way of introduction, I’m a graduate of Princeton College. I received my law degree at Yale Law School. Have been a member of the Bar of the State of New York since 1964 and that of the State of Connecticut since 1976.

I’ve practiced law in the State for some 20 years. In New Haven, I was a member of the New Haven Police Board and for fifteen years, served as chairman of the New Haven Redevelopment Agency.

The bills before this committee would elevate the status of same sex unions to the legal equivalent of marriage in Connecticut. Its details are spelled out in many pages of complicated statutory legalese, but the message is clear. The traditional institution of marriage with all the social and ethical benefits it imparts, would be seriously eroded and perhaps destroyed. That message, we fear, does substantial violence to the values in which civilized societies have been founded from time in memorial, not hundreds of years, thousands of years.

posted by: Mike Lawlor on September 25, 2019 8:56pm Connecticut law in the area of sexuality and marriage prescind from the Bible. In particular, the five books of Moses, the Torah. The commandments in this regard, as set forth in the Torah are at the cornerstone of Judaism, not to speak of Christianity and Islam, the three great western religions. On this subject, the Torah contains very clear, very specific affirmative commandments and negative injunctions and I’ve set forth the exhibits and English translation, those pertinent parts in the Bible that relate to this issue. There’s an awful lot of misinterpretation. There’s an awful lot of paraphrasing. There’s an awful lot of explication, but the bottom line, as included in Exhibit A, the very beginning of Genesis sets forth the ideal and thesis of marriage. After the Almighty created man and woman, He ordained that a man shall leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, becoming as one. Marriage then is by the devine definition, the union of man and woman. Conversely, I wish to reiterate Judaism’s longstanding opposition to any same sex relationships. A historic opposition, which is shared by classical Christianity, and again, Islam. The Torah perspective on homosexual relationships is informed by biblical disapproval, a strong disapproval. Leviticus 1822 - again, that’s set forth as Exhibit B, where that negative injunction follows a detailed list of prohibited sexual associations. It is worth perusing. I quote, “Do not lie with a male as you would with a woman since this is a disgusting perversion.” Casuistry and intellectualisms cannot efface and expunge the wholehearted opposition of the Bible to these prohibited sexual relationships, including homosexuality.

posted by: Mike Lawlor on September 25, 2019 8:58pm These two sections of the Bible form the basis of Connecticut’s statutes regarding definitions of marriage and prohibited sexual relationships. Should we choose to abandon the founding principles of Connecticut law? From the purely social perspective, the bills before the committee are ominous. A few thoughts. It has become manifestly and tragically clear in recent years that the decline of traditional marriage has engendered normal social costs and more specifically, are faded to view heterosexual marriage is essential to family life has had a devastating impact on children. These bills would be a further, perhaps fatal assault on the already imperiled institution of marriage. We hear a lot about the best interest of the child. We didn’t have to hear about this 30 or 40 years ago. The family was intact. Also legalizing same sex marriages which, by biological definition, even as to form, can never have anything to do with procreation, would obscure further still the vital link between marriage and children. It would convey the message that childbearing and child rearing are matters entirely distinct and irrelevant to marriage with the emotional uncertainty and instability for the next generation. Shades of Huxley’s Brave New World and those tragic consequences, the message is subtle but devastating. These are among many serious adverse results of the proposed legislation. As an aside, by the way, these bills are inherently illogical. For some esoteric reason, and of course, I’m being sarcastic, per chance based on the versus from Leviticus before you as Exhibit B, both would apply the existing prohibitions of the marriage of certain relatives to the proposed same sex unions, e.g., outlawing two brothers, uncle and nephew and their female counterparts, etcetera. How odd and anachronistic. If we are to ignore our traditional roots, why not adopt the new morality in toto.

posted by: ruthie rigerman on September 25, 2019 9:40pm Sorry to disappoint elainect.It is TRUE that Rabbi Greer was actively helping Soviet Jewry (as was Mrs. Greer).In 1970, at the behest of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Riskin, Mr. Joselit and Rabbi Greer went to the USSR on a fact finding trip.My husband, Leonid Rigerman a dissident born to American parents in the Soviet Union was claiming his american citizenship and was harassed by the Soviets. Rabbi Greer became my husband’s attorney (pro bono) and campaigned successfully to have his citizenship recognized. He worked incessantly for this cause for many months, calling my husband every day, enlisting many law professors and lawyers a.o. prof. Dershovits and Nat Lewin, and he was joined by 70 congressmen. A colossal work, quietly and efficiently done. As to organisations etc. active on behalf of Soviet Jews, may I point out that they joined the efforts much later than Rabbi Greer!

posted by: Patricia Kane on September 26, 2019 10:30am Society let Mr. Mirlis and all the exploited children down. The adults who surely knew what was going on are unindicted co-conspirators and deserve to have their names known.

The State should a) submit an amendment to the Statutes to eliminate the 5 year reporting requirement and b) immediately re-charge Greer under the appropriate section of the Statutes.

2 years of home confinement seems inadequate to his crimes.

It takes a village to protect a rapist of children.

posted by: Big George Waters ruthie rigerman, thank you for posting this very insightful comment.

posted by: CTBatman on September 27, 2019 11:52am Is it really necessary to put jurors pictures, even from the back, online??? I get the freedom of the press, and they were in public, but come on…

posted by: tmctague on September 27, 2019 12:43pm David M. Lesser, When the Greer family fled CT after the initial suit and took many security deposits with them, Dow was the number I was given to call. He was uncooperative, and as a 25 year old losing over $1,000 in cash for no reason, I found his actions to be unethical. He knew what was up. He’s got skin in the game, he has profited off years of work with the Greer family. My experience with him differs from yours, of course, so I just wanted to provide a full picture.

posted by: david m. lesser on September 27, 2019 1:11pm Dear tmmctague—It is very unfortunate that you were apparently treated so poorly by Mr. Greer. However, lawyers represent their clients, and are prohibited from representing conflicting interests. Your redress must come from someone who is not already legally required to protect the interests of the person who wronged you. I hope you will take the necessary steps to make yourself whole. Sincerely, David Lesser

posted by: berkeley on September 27, 2019 1:23pm Dear tmctague You can sue either in small claims court or housing court to get your security deposit (with interest) returned to you.

Good luck

posted by: EPDP on September 27, 2019 1:42pm Mr. Lesser-

When the initial civil molestation lawsuit was filed against Daniel Greer, Greer was represented by Attorney Stuart Margolis, who sent me a threatening letter because I exposed Daniel Greer as a pedophile on my blog. Attorney Bill Ward filed a defamation lawsuit against me shortly thereafter. Greer added attorney David Grudberg as an additional lawyer to the defamation lawsuit, which is still pending. Stuart Margolis has represented Mr. Greer in all of his eviction cases for the last several years. Willie Dow came to the scene after rape victim Mirlis contacted the New Haven Police Department at some point after his civil case was filed, a point in time after all the Greer family members had already left town. I cannot imagine that one of Greer’s sons would be able to take deposit monies from Papa Greer’s non profits. Daniel Greer was very controlling. It doesn’t seem to make sense, but I could be wrong

Larry Dressler