Pa. Supreme Court: Stay of priest abuse report tied to 'right to reputation' of those named

By Jocelyn Brumbaugh
Tribune-Democrat
June 26, 2018

http://www.tribdem.com/news/pa-supreme-court-stay-of-priest-abuse-report-tied-to/article_e9371144-78a4-11e8-9a04-8f994d324b4f.html

Norman Krumenacker, Cambria County president judge, talks in his chambers at the Cambria County Courthouse on Monday, July 3, 2017. Photo by John Rucosky

An opinion issued Monday afternoon by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court explains some of the reasons why it issued a stay last week on the release of a grand jury report concerning child sexual abuse within several Roman Catholic dioceses in the state.

Last week’s stay – requested by unnamed parties – was granted by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s Western District.

“Although the claims evidently differed in particulars to some degree, they shared certain key commonalities,” the opinion says.

“Most, if not all of the petitioners alleged that they are named or identified ... in a way that unconstitutionally infringes on their right to reputation and denies them due process based upon the lack of pre-deprivation hearing and/or an opportunity to be heard by the grand jury.”

The opinion says a temporary stay is appropriate to allow time for essential judicial review, consideration of constitutional claims made and to gather more information to address the petitions under review, as the state Supreme Court has not yet seen the report in its entirety.

“The Court intends to revisit the stay order when the proceedings before it have advanced to a stage at which either the petitions for review can be resolved, or an informed and fair determination can be made as to whether a continued stay is warranted,” the opinion concludes.

The high court also prevented the state attorney general and Cambria County President Judge Norman Krumenacker III, who supervises the 40th statewide investigating grand jury, from releasing a document known as “Report No. 1” – a culmination of an investigation that began in 2016 of the dioceses in Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Greensburg, Scranton, Allentown and Erie.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court says Krumenacker devised a procedure to give notice to any named or implicated individuals within the report and allowed them to file responses, which were due to him Friday. 

He also indicated that the report would be published as early as Saturday, according to the opinion.

“Many individuals have lodged challenges,” to the report with Krumenacker, the state Supreme Court opinion says, “generally asserting a denial of constitutional rights.”

On June 5, Krumenacker issued an 11-page public opinion denying a series of motions seeking evidentiary hearings to dispute parts of the report before their names appear in it.

Krumenacker said granting such hearings would undermine the investigative role of the state’s grand jury.

“Adopting the position advanced by the movants would fundamentally change the Grand Jury Act’s procedures, change the historical function of grand juries and effectively bring the grand jury process to a halt, turning each investigation into a full adjudication,” Krumenacker wrote.

Krumenacker’s opinion also noted that release of the report would support the state’s interest in preventing child abuse, providing justice to abused children and protect abused children from further abuse by identifying abusers and those who enable them.

“Here the Report is the culmination of two years of investigation into the Dioceses related to allegations of child sexual abuse, failure to make a mandatory report, acts endangering the welfare of children and obstruction of justice by individuals associated with the Roman Catholic Church, local public officials and community leaders,” he wrote.

Responses to Krumenacker’s opinion were sealed, but the state Supreme Court filing says “affected individuals have filed multiple petitions for review, along with emergency applications for stay.”

Krumenacker said he cannot comment on the pending legal matter.

“I’d ask the public to be patient and respect the legal process,” he told The Tribune-Democrat.

“This Court is cognizant that Report No. 1 is a matter of great public interest,” the state Supreme Court opinion states.

Joe Grace, communications director for state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, issued a statement Monday in response to the high court’s opinion.

“Individuals named in the grand jury report filed motions, including a request for stay, to permanently suppress the voices of victims of widespread sexual abuse within the Catholic Church,” Grace said.  

“The Office of Attorney General stands in total opposition to that position and is fighting with all of its legal ability to ensure the publication of this report. While we did not oppose giving the Court a matter of days to conduct a careful review and promptly rule on these motions, that time is quickly expiring.”

Grace said Shapiro “is fighting to allow victims to be heard by the people of Pennsylvania and seeks to have the stay lifted expeditiously.” 

Shapiro had said he expected to comment publicly on the report by the end of this month unless leaders of any of the dioceses try to delay or fight its release.

In May, Shapiro announced that bishops from the Roman Catholic dioceses of Greensburg and Harrisburg had agreed not to contest the release of the report, joining those from Scranton, Allentown, Erie and Pittsburgh, which had already supported releasing the findings of the investigation.

The grand jury investigation of the six dioceses began after the 37th statewide investigating grand jury released a report in 2016 on the cover-up of child sexual abuse that went on for decades within the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese.

That report grew out of an investigation into Brother Stephen Baker, who abused more than 90 children when he was assigned to Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown.