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	Court Decision Puts New Pressure on San Diego Diocese Catholic World News August 27, 2007 http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=53139 San Diego, Aug. 27, 2007 (CWNews.com) - A federal bankruptcy-court judge in California has ordered court trials in 42 lawsuits brought against the San Diego diocese by victims of sexual abuse. The August 25 decision by Judge Louise DeCarl Adler puts new pressure on the San Diego diocese to reach a settlement with the plaintiffs. The judge was critical of an offer from the diocese to settle with 127 plaintiffs for a total of $94 million; the plaintiffs' lawyers are asking for $200 million. In February, the San Diego diocese had filed for bankruptcy, citing the potential costs of sex-abuse settlements. The move into bankruptcy court-- filed just before the first lawsuits were scheduled to go to trial-- temporarily halted the progress of the court cases. Victims' attorneys had urged the bankruptcy court to let the trials proceed, saying that the prospect of jury verdicts would encourage faster settlement of the cases. Lawyers for the diocese asked the judge to make her own estimate of the sex-abuse settlements. Judge Adler sided with the plaintiffs. The court's decision places new pressure on the San Diego diocese in a contentious legal battle, in which a court-appointed investigator has already found serious flaws in the financial statements submitted to the courts by the diocese, and "openly questionable activities" in some diocesan accounts. The next important step in the San Diego case is likely come with Judge Adler's decision on a petition to dismiss the bankruptcy petition, leaving the diocese obligated to pay any legal settlements in full. The judge is expected to rule on that petition early in September.
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