Appeals cout says LA archdiocese must turn over clergy files to grand jury
Los Angeles, California --
A state appellate court has ordered Cardinal Roger Mahony to turn over internal church records of two former priests accused of sexually abusing children to a grand jury.
The 2nd District Court of Appeal on Monday upheld a previous judge's decision that the church documents involving allegations of clergy sexual abuse should be released to the grand jury. The three-judge panel rejected arguments by the Los Angeles Archdiocese that it was constitutionally protected from having to disclose documents from Roman Catholic priest personnel files.
"While it is true the right to religious freedom holds a special place in our history and culture, there also must be an accommodation by religious believers and institutions to the rules of civil society, particularly when the state's compelling interest in protecting children is in question," Presiding Justice Joan Dempsey Klein wrote in a 49-page opinion. Justices Walter Croskey and Patti Kitching concurred.
Prosecutors were encouraged by the panel's ruling.
"This is a clean-sweep victory for the people," said William Hodgman, the deputy district attorney in charge of the investigation. "Every single argument has been shot down in flames, described as meritless."
Lawyers for Mahony and the priests, whose names have not been made public, said they expect to appeal.
The ruling, which is expected to affect both civil and criminal litigation, is part of a three-year legal battle over the disclosure of church documents sought by prosecutors investigating clergy sexual abuse.
Mahony has said that examining confidential communications between a bishop and his priests by a third party would violate the church's 1st Amendment rights.
The appellate judges disagreed, saying that enforcing the subpoenas "will not result in excessive entanglement" by the government. The court cited rulings in other states that forced the Catholic Church to turn over similar documents.
Read the article at AP Wire Dated July 26, 2005
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A state appellate court has ordered Cardinal Roger Mahony to turn over internal church records of two former priests accused of sexually abusing children to a grand jury.
The 2nd District Court of Appeal on Monday upheld a previous judge's decision that the church documents involving allegations of clergy sexual abuse should be released to the grand jury. The three-judge panel rejected arguments by the Los Angeles Archdiocese that it was constitutionally protected from having to disclose documents from Roman Catholic priest personnel files.
"While it is true the right to religious freedom holds a special place in our history and culture, there also must be an accommodation by religious believers and institutions to the rules of civil society, particularly when the state's compelling interest in protecting children is in question," Presiding Justice Joan Dempsey Klein wrote in a 49-page opinion. Justices Walter Croskey and Patti Kitching concurred.
Prosecutors were encouraged by the panel's ruling.
"This is a clean-sweep victory for the people," said William Hodgman, the deputy district attorney in charge of the investigation. "Every single argument has been shot down in flames, described as meritless."
Lawyers for Mahony and the priests, whose names have not been made public, said they expect to appeal.
The ruling, which is expected to affect both civil and criminal litigation, is part of a three-year legal battle over the disclosure of church documents sought by prosecutors investigating clergy sexual abuse.
Mahony has said that examining confidential communications between a bishop and his priests by a third party would violate the church's 1st Amendment rights.
The appellate judges disagreed, saying that enforcing the subpoenas "will not result in excessive entanglement" by the government. The court cited rulings in other states that forced the Catholic Church to turn over similar documents.
Read the article at AP Wire Dated July 26, 2005
posted by God Almighty Himself at 3:43 PM
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