Federal Court Upholds Convictions Of Lakewood Rabbi, 2 Others In Kidnap-Divorce Plot

NEWARK, NJ — A federal court has upheld the convictions of a Lakewood rabbi and two other Orthodox rabbis on charges of conspiring to kidnap Orthodox Jewish husbands who refused to grant their wives permission to divorce, Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick announced Friday.

Rabbis Mendel Epstein, 72, of Lakewood; Jay Goldstein, 63, and Binaymin Stimler, 42, both of Brooklyn, were convicted during an April 2015 trial of attempting to kidnap men and force them to grant the divorces and in December 2015 were sentenced to 10 years, 8 years and 39 months in jail, respectively, as a result of their convictions.

The goal of the conspiracy was to coerce the recalcitrant husbands to grant a “get” – permission to obtain a religious divorce – to their wives, Fitzpatrick's office said. On appeal, the defendants raised numerous claims, including a constitutional challenge to a federal statute and a claim that the prosecution violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

READ MORE: Rabbi Gets 10-Year Jail Term In Kidnap-Divorce Plot

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit rejected those claims. In a precedential opinion, the judges rejected claims that due process was violated in the search of cell phone records to confirm locations of the three. It also rejected the claim that the kidnappings were protected as part of their religious laws.

"In our legal system, 'liberty and social stability demand a religious tolerance that respects the religious views of all citizens ...' " the judges wrote. "Respect for religious beliefs cannot, however, trump all other legitimate, and sometimes competing, government objectives. This appeal asks us to clarify the balance between religious freedoms and public safety. The balance here clearly lies on the side of public safety."

The investigation was triggered by the kidnappings and assaults of three Orthodox Jewish men — two from Lakewood and one from Brooklyn — from 2009 through 2011. In at least one case the man was pulled into a van, tied up, beaten and shocked with a stun gun until he agreed to give his wife a get -- a religious divorce under Judaism.

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