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	Maine Supreme Court Orders Priest-Abuse Records Released to Papers Editor & Publisher [Portland ME] April 25, 2005 PORTLAND, Maine (AP) The Maine supreme court on Friday ruled that the state must make public investigative records about 18 now-deceased Roman Catholic priests who were accused of sexual abuse of minors. In a split decision, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled 4-3 that the attorney general must release the files to Blethen Maine Newspapers, owner of the Portland Press Herald, the Kennebec Journal, and the Morning Sentinel. However, the names and identifying information of family members, friends, and others associated with the cases must be removed from the records when they are released. Justices struggled with balancing the public interest in the priest sexual abuse scandal with privacy concerns for witnesses, family members, and sexual abuse victims through the decades. "On balance, the identified public interest exceeds the privacy interests associated with the records once they are redacted," Justice Jon Levy wrote for himself, Howard Dana, and Susan Calkins. Chief Justice Leigh Saufley concurred in a separate opinion. Jonathan Piper, a Portland attorney who represents Blethen, said the ruling is a clear victory for the newspapers. He expects both sides to go back to Superior Court to determine how and by whom the records will be handled to remove the information that identifies people other than the deceased priests accused of sexual abuse. Piper said the ruling also provides new information about the alleged sexual abuse. For instance, it states that the alleged abuse occurred more than 40 years ago on average, and that the median time since the priests' deaths is 25 years. "When we think about the issue of sexual abuse by priests we think of it as a phenomenon of '70s and '80s," Piper said. "But they're talking here about things going on back to the '30s, going back to our parents' generation and our grandparents' generation. Quite remarkable." Attorney General Steven Rowe issued a statement Friday evening saying he was still reviewing the decision. But he said he was pleased that "the court seems to have recognized that the names of the alleged victims in these records must remain confidential." Blethen Maine Newspapers filed a Maine Freedom of Access request with the attorney general in 2002 seeking records pertaining to the attorney general's investigation of alleged sexual abuse by priests who are now deceased. The attorney general denied the request, saying release of the records constituted an unwarranted invasion of privacy of the victims, the deceased priests, the priests' families, and congregations. In response, Blethen filed a lawsuit in Superior Court, which concluded that the privacy interests of alleged victims and witnesses were exceeded by the public's interest in disclosure of the information. Rowe appealed Justice Kirk Studstrup's ruling that the files be made public, leaving the outcome in the hands of the supreme court. Three dissenting justices -- Paul Rudman, Robert Clifford, and Donald Alexander -- sided with the attorney general in the lawsuit. They cited concerns that people may not cooperate in law enforcement investigations for fear their names could made public. Clifford, writing for himself and Rudman, said the majority's ruling "departs dramatically from precedent and employs much too lenient a standard in concluding that there is a significant public interest that outweighs the privacy interests involved." "Such disclosure, not only of names, but also of the substance of their statements, carries the potential for future humiliation and embarrassment," he wrote. Alexander wrote in a separate dissent that substantial public interest "does not create a license for newspapers, or anyone else, to review old case files (in which there was no prosecution) and publicize or use them as they see fit." He also said too much was made of the age of the accusations and distance in time from the deaths of the priests. He feared that the ruling opens the door to release of information in cases that are not nearly as old.