CHICAGO (IL)
National Catholic Reporter
Marie Rohde | Jun. 3, 2014
CHICAGO
The issue of whether the Catholic faith of a federal judge was the basis for a key decision he made in the bankruptcy of the Milwaukee archdiocese came under intense scrutiny Monday as a three-judge panel of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments.
Lawyers for claimants, most of them survivors of sexual abuse by priests, have asked the appellate panel to remove U.S. District Judge Rudolph Randa from the bankruptcy case and void his decision supporting the archdiocese’s transfer of more than $55 million to a fund for the perpetual care of cemeteries. They want the court to order that another federal judge in Milwaukee consider whether that money is fair game in the compensation of the survivors and other claimants.
“It has nothing to do with being a Catholic,” said lawyer Marci Hamilton of the request that Randa be replaced, adding that the concern was for “his endorsement of the religious faith.”
After Randa issued his ruling in late July 2013, lawyers for the bankruptcy claimants raised the question of whether he had a bias.
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