MINNESOTA
Star Tribune
Article by: JEAN HOPFENSPERGER , Star Tribune Updated: August 4, 2014
Court hearing to determine legal standard for releasing the names of accused priests.
Which priests accused of sexual misconduct should have their names and files made public?
That’s the question that a Ramsey District Court judge will hear arguments for Monday morning, as part of an ongoing clergy abuse case marking its way through the court.
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has argued that the names of priests should only be made public when there is significant evidence that a priest engaged in criminal sexual misconduct or that the accusation was not false.
The names of every priest accused with little evidence should not be made public, its lawyers have said.
Attorney Jeff Anderson, representing an alleged child victim of a priest, has argued that the standard for making the names public should be much broader.
Any priest who poses a risk to children — documented through a psychiatric diagnosis, self-report or other documentation — should be made public, he has argued. Ramsey District Court Judge John Van de North will also hear the archdiocese’ motion to move the high profile sex abuse lawsuit out of Ramsey County because of its widespread publicity.
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