BishopAccountability.org
	Judge Rejects San Diego Diocese Request to Seal Abuse Records By Allison Hoffman Associated Press, carried in San Luis Obispo Tribune March 8, 2007 http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/16862402.htm San Diego — The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego lost a bid to seal any documents that would detail sex abuse allegations against priests, but the judge overseeing its bankruptcy reorganization ruled the accusers' names can be kept secret. Judge Louise DeCarl Adler said that bankruptcy proceedings are inherently public. The Associated Press and Copley Press Inc., publisher of The San Diego Union-Tribune, challenged the diocese's request to seal financial disclosures and "pleadings, reports and other documents" if they identified victims. An attorney for the news organizations said the breadth of the diocese request could prevent abuse allegations from being made public. "Secrecy tends to grow like Topsy, and we're trying to stop that," said attorney Susan Seager after Wednesday's ruling. Adler ordered the diocese and attorneys representing more than 140 plaintiffs who filed abuse claims to agree on a method to redact names of alleged victims who wish to be anonymous. Any documents listing names or addresses of accusers can be kept under seal until April 11 to give plaintiffs time to respond. In court filings, the diocese said it was trying to prevent the release of accusers' names, which it said could be defamatory. "Claimants should not be forced to make their identities public in order to participate in this reorganization," the diocese argued. Susan Boswell, an attorney for the diocese, said in court that she was willing to negotiate a mechanism for redacting the names of people wishing to remain anonymous as long as it didn't slow the bankruptcy proceedings. Attorneys for the accusers expressed concern that sealing court filings would limit information available to the creditors' committee and the bankruptcy trustee, who will determine how much money is available to settle abuse claims. The diocese filed for bankruptcy protection Feb. 27, just hours before the first civil trial was scheduled to begin in San Diego Superior Court. In that case, a Colorado woman accused a priest of forcing her to have sex in his parish office in 1972 when she was 17. San Diego Bishop Robert Brom wrote in a letter posted on the diocese Web site last month that he would publicly name every accused priest but he didn't say when. Diocese attorney Micheal Webb said the timing would be "a pastoral decision."
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.