MILWAUKEE (WI)
The New York Times
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: September 3, 2013
A federal judge who ruled in favor of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee in bankruptcy proceedings, and against sexual abuse victims and other creditors, is being asked by the creditors to recuse himself because they say he has a conflict of interest.
Judge Rudolph T. Randa ruled in late July that the archdiocese did not have to turn over the millions in its cemetery trust fund to a group of creditors who include hundreds of abuse victims. But lawyers for plaintiffs say the judge has a conflict of interest because many of his family members are buried in archdiocesan cemeteries.
In his ruling, Judge Randa decided that forcing the archdiocese to tap its cemetery fund would violate the First Amendment’s free exercise of religion clause and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a law passed by Congress in 1993.
“For the church and therefore Catholics, cemeteries reflect the Catholic belief in the resurrection of Jesus and the community’s commitment to the corporeal work of mercy of burying the dead,” Judge Randa wrote.
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