The clergy sex abuse crisis and the legal responses / James T. O'Reilly and Margaret S.P. Chalmers
- Author
- O'Reilly, James T., 1947-
- Published
- New York : Oxford University Press, 2014.
- Physical Description
- 1 online resource
- Additional Creators
- Chalmers, Margaret S. P.
Access Online
- Oxford scholarship online: ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu
- Contents
- Machine generated contents note: 1.Introduction to a Complex Problem -- 1:1.Understanding the Complex Dynamic Underlying the Legal Issues -- 1:2.The U.S. Legal System Has No Perfect Answers -- 1:3.The Church's Canon Law System Has No Perfect Answers -- 1:4.The Clergy Sexual Abuse Lessons Are Useful in Other U.S. Faith Communities -- 1:5.The Clergy Sexual Abuse Lessons Are Useful in Other U.S. Institutions -- 1:6.The U.S. Lessons Are Useful to the Roman Catholic Churches in Other Nations -- 2.Understanding the Patterns of Clergy Abuse Litigation -- 2:1.Introduction -- 2:2.The Event -- 2:3.Typical Post-Event Results -- 2:4.Initial Reports -- 2:5.Responses by Dioceses -- 2:6.Contrasting External Legal and Internal Church Remedies -- 2:7.News Media -- 2:8.Significance of Prior Abuse Allegations -- 2:9.Follow-Up Media Coverage -- 2:10.Response by Local Law Enforcement -- 2:11.Diocesan Review Boards -- 2:12.Costs of Investigating and Defending Older Abuse Claims -- 2:13.Fiscal Effects on Liabilities of the Diocese -- 2:14.Financial Impacts on Income for the Diocese -- 2:15.Insurer Responses -- 2:16.Liabilities versus Assets -- 2:17.Vulnerability of the Funds of Parishes -- 2:18.Considerations of Bankruptcy -- 2:19.Legislators' Roles on Limitations Periods -- 2:20.Removal of the Accused Abuser Priest -- 3.Civil Litigation against Catholic Dioceses, Parishes, and Priests -- 3:1.Individual Liability -- 3:2.Litigation Begins -- 3:3.Liability of the Diocese -- 3:4.The Structure of "Employer Responsibilities" in the Church Context -- 3:5.Determining Who Is the Employer under State Law -- 3:6.Role of Parishes within a Diocese -- 3:7.Discovery and Depositions to Gather Evidence -- 3:8.Identifying Assets -- 3:9.Pretrial Motions -- 3:10.Attributing Liability to the Diocese -- 3:11.News Coverage before Trial -- 3:12.Pretrial Settlement Discussions -- 3:13.Trial of a Sexual Abuse Civil Case -- 3:14.Appeals -- 3:15.Final Judgment -- 4.Participants in the Clergy Abuse Case -- 4:1.Participants -- 4:2.Victims -- 4:3.Victim Advocates and Family -- 4:4.The Accused Abuser -- 4:5.The Diocesan Bishop -- 4:6.Roles of the Vatican -- 4:7.The Vicar for Clergy -- 4:8.The Diocesan Staff Who Responded to Allegations -- 4:9.The Liability Insurance Carrier -- 4:10.The News Media Role -- 4:11.Defense Counsel -- 4:12.The Suspended or Dismissed Priest or Member of a Religious Order -- 5.Delays and Limitations in Clergy Abuse Cases -- 5:1.Exposing Weaknesses in the System -- 5:2.Background -- 5:3.Rationales for Limitations -- 5:4.Delays and Tolling -- 5:5.When the Period Begins -- 5:6.Effects of Delay on Proof -- 5:7.Frustrations -- 5:8.Legislators' Responses to Reopening Limitations -- 5:9.Courts and the Window Reopening Legislation -- 6.Effects of Criminal Charges and Plea Agreements -- 6:1.Criminal Law Context -- 6:2.State Criminal Laws Applied to Clergy Abuse Cases -- 6:3.Disincentives against Use of Criminal Charges -- 6:4.The Criminal Prosecutor's Institutional Issues -- 6:5.The Process of Criminal Prosecution -- 6:6.Sentencing and Appeals -- 6:7.Repeat Offenders -- 6:8.Jury Nullification Defenses -- 6:9.The Church's Altered Stance on Reporting Clergy for Criminal Prosecutions -- 7.Church Insurance and Abuse Claims -- 7:1.Insurance Overview -- 7:2.Coverage Disputes -- 7:3."Archeology" of Old Policies -- 7:4.Was Sexual Abuse Covered as an Accidental "Occurrence"? -- 7:5.Insurer Response to Sexual Abuse -- 7:6.The Low Limits of Insurance Coverage -- 7:7.The Primary and Excess Coverage Carriers -- 7:8.Denial of Coverage for Known Offender Loss Events -- 7:9.Pools and Retained Risk Groups -- 7:10.Limitations on Insurance Claims Timing -- 7:11.Exclusion of Coverage for Sexual Misconduct -- 7:12.Vicarious Liability -- 7:13.Broad Exclusions from Coverage after 1987 -- 7:14.Age of the Crimes and Age of the Insurance Contracts -- 7:15.Diocesan Lawsuits against Insurance Carriers -- 8.Constitutional Issues -- 8:1.Overview -- 8:2.Constitutionality of Courts Overseeing Church Internal Discipline -- 8:3.Bankruptcy and Criminal Rationales for Reviewing Internal Disciplinary Decisions -- 8:4.Mandatory Reporting and the Religious Confessional Privilege -- 8:5.No Special Immunities for Clergy -- 8:6.Can There Be a Tort of Clergy "Malpractice"? -- 8:7.Breach of Fiduciary Duty -- 8:8.Post-Arrest Due Process Issues -- 8:9.Conventional Statutes of Limitations Issues -- 8:10.Statutory Reopening of Limitation Periods for Child Abuse Reports -- 9.Bankruptcy Issues -- 9:1.Bankruptcy of a Diocese -- 9:2.Operational Effects of Bankruptcy -- 9:3.Assets and Donor Relations -- 9:4.Assets of Parishes -- 9:5.Bankruptcy's Negative Effects on Dioceses and Donors -- 9:6.Bishops and Fraud -- 10.Mandated Abuse Reporting Issues -- 10:1.Introduction -- 10:2.History and Purpose of Reporting Statutes -- 10:3.Operating Principles of the Abuse Reporting Laws -- 10:4.Addition of Clergy to Mandatory Reporters -- 10:5.The Connecticut Case Example -- 10:6.The Kansas City Conviction -- 11.Evidence Privileges and Clergy Abuse Issues -- 11:1.Conflicts with the State Law Clergy-Communicant Evidence Privilege -- 11:2.Cross-Reference of Disclosure Statutes to Penitent Privileges -- 11:3.Disclosure and Privilege as a Criminal Defense Argument -- 11:4.What Are the Penalties for Not Reporting? -- 11:5.Immunity for Clergy Members Who Report Child Abuse -- 11:6.Instances of Conviction for Failure to Report -- 11:7.Civil Tort Consequences from Not Reporting -- 11:8.Immunity as an Incentive -- 12.Repressed Memory Inducement Cases -- 12:1.What Is Repressed Memory? -- 12:2.How Does This Theory Relate to Statutes of Limitations? -- 12:3.Effects of the Daubert Standard -- 12:4.Future of the Repressed Memory Cases -- 13.Fraud and Nondisclosure in the Assignment of Clergy -- 13:1.Lawsuits Challenging Transfers of Abusers to Contact with Children -- 13:2.The Role of Diocesan Concealment -- 13:3.What the Data Shows -- 13:4.How Priest Transfers Were Managed -- 13:5.Priest Abuse Contrasted to Liability under Traditional Employment Law -- 13:6.Concealment of Diocesan Knowledge of the Prior Accusations -- 13:7.How Jury Decisions Would Be Made -- 13:8.Transfers among Dioceses -- 13:9.The Freedom of Religion Factor and the Judge's Role -- 13:10.Charges of a Conspiracy of Silence -- 13:11.Verdicts and Consequences -- 14.Defenses and Claims of Immunity -- 14:1.Overview -- 14:2.Statutes of Limitations -- 14:3.Diocesan Responses -- 14:4.Presentation and Rebuttal of Evidence -- 14:5.Elements of the Damages -- 14:6.Emotional Injury Not Accompanied by Physical Harm -- 14:7.Privilege for Priest-Penitent Disclosures -- 14:8.Charitable Immunity from Larger Damages -- 14:9.Constitutional Defenses -- 14:10.Lack of the Bishop's Knowledge -- 14:11.Sovereign Immunity of Vatican Officials and the Pope -- 14:12.Absence of Diocesan Accountability for the "Rogue" Priest -- 14:13.Is a Countersuit Possible? -- 14:14.Default -- 15.Damages Issues -- 15:1.Overview -- 15:2.Prerequisites to Damage Awards -- 15:3.Prerequisites to Punitive Damages -- 15:4.Effects of Caps on Damage Awards -- 15:5.Awards of Plaintiff's Legal Fees -- 15:6.Church-Paid Counseling and Therapy as a Damage Element -- 16.Fiscal Impacts of Abuse Cases on the U.S. Catholic Church -- 16:1.Overview of U.S. Roman Catholic Church Finances -- 16:2.Uninsured Losses from Sexual Abuse Cases -- 16:3.Impact of Settlements and Verdicts -- 16:4.Impacts of Abuse Cases on Revenues -- 16:5.Effects of Liquidating Assets -- 16:6.Costs apart from Settlements -- 16:7.Lost Opportunities for Charitable Actions by the Catholic Church -- 17.Impact of Abuse Cases on External Relations of the Catholic Church -- 17:1.Why Would the Catholic Church Be Concerned about Its External Relations? -- 17:2.How Were Church Defenses in Abuse Cases Perceived? -- 17:3.What Audiences Have Mattered? -- 17:4.Legal Responses by the Church That Failed or Backfired -- 17:5.Successful Responses That Aid the Defense -- 17:6."Fallout" from Clergy Sexual Abuse -- 18.Responses Vary Inside and Outside the United States -- 18:1.Overview -- 18:2.Central Vatican Authority over Bishops -- 18:3.Role of U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops -- 18:4.Diplomacy and Vatican Litigation: Effects on the Universal Church -- 18:5.Fiscal Responsibility of Catholic Churches in Other Nations -- 19.The Church's Internal Big Picture-Governance and Law -- 19:1.Introduction -- 19:2.Role of the Canon Law Professional Community -- 19:3.Organizational Norms and Church Mindset -- 19:4.Vatican Initial Perceptions of the Crisis -- 19:5.International Church/State Interaction -- 19:6.Managerial Accountability Conflicts -- 19:7.The Church's Distaste for Haste -- 19:8.The Role of Cardinal Ratzinger in Cleaning Up the Mess -- 19:9.Moving Forward and Pope Francis -- 19:10.Canon Law -- 19:11.Governing Structures -- 19:12.Overview of the Code -- 19:13.Penal Aspects of Canon Law -- 19:14.Conflicts in Legal Values -- 19:15.Current Canon Law regarding Sexual Abuse -- 20.How Episcopal Culture Contributed to Administrative Failure -- 20:1.Understanding the Culture -- 20:2.Two Separate Issues -- 20:3.Diocesan Independence -- 20:4.Bishop Accountability -- 20:5.An Alternate Approach to Law -- 20:6.Ambivalence regarding Lay People -- 20:7.Resulting Frustrations -- 20:8.Isolation at the Top -- 20:9.Anti-Catholicism? -- 20:10.Secrecy and the Avoidance of Scandal -- 20:11.Consequences for Abuse Victims -- 20:12.The Role of the Diocesan Civil Lawyer -- 20:13.A Changing Culture -- 21.The Development of the Problem: 1950 to 2002 -- 21:1.Introduction -- 21:2.The Learning Curve and the Standard of Judgment -- 21:3.The Years prior to the 1960s -- 21:4.What Happened in the 1960s? -- 21:5.The 1970s-The Peak of Abuse -- 21:6.Failure to Screen and Train Seminarians -- 21:7.The 1980s -- 21:8.What Was Happening with Victims -- 21:9.The 1990s -- 21:10.NCCB-Vatican Discussions -- 21:11.The NCCB Response -- 21:12.The Effects of an Accusation against Cardinal Bernardin -- and Contents note continued: 21:13.Post-1994 -- 21:14.Summary -- 22.The Perfect Storm in Canon Law: What Went Wrong? -- 22:1.Overview -- 22:2.Remedies Previously Available in the 1917 Code -- 22:3.Suspensio ex Informata Conscientia -- 22:4.Other Instances in which a Bishop Could Act Unilaterally -- 22:5.Administrative Laicization Created, then Restricted -- 22:6.What Administrative Processes Were Available -- 22:7.Canonical Emphasis on Protecting Priest's Rights -- 22:8.American Canonists Had No Experience Conducting a Penal Trial -- 22:9.Difficulties with Investigations and Proofs -- 22:10.The Need for Victim Cooperation in a Penal Trial -- 22:11.The Canonical Penal Process Is Clunky, Vague, and Inefficient -- 22:12.Issues with Particular Canonical Requirements -- 22:13.The Law Itself Discourages Penal Trials -- 22:14.The Definition of a Minor -- 22:15.Prescription-the Canonical Statute of Limitations -- 22:16.Culpability -- 22:17.Treatment rather than Punishment -- 22:18.The Unwillingness of Bishops to Interact with Secular Enforcement Authorities -- 22:19.The Cumulative Effect -- 22:20.Summary -- 23.2002 and Beyond -- 23:1.Understanding the Events -- 23:2.Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela, 2001 -- 23:3.Boston and 2002 -- 23:4.The USCCB Meeting in Dallas, Texas -- 23:5.The Charter and Norms -- 23:6.The National Review Board -- 23:7.The USCCB Office of Children and Youth Protection -- 23:8.The USCCB's Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People -- 23:9.The John Jay College Studies -- 23:10.Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela, 2010 -- 23:11.2011 CDF Circular Letter -- 23:12.Anticipated Canonical Legislation -- 23:13.Conclusion -- 24.The Particular Issues of Religious Communities -- 24:1.Overview -- 24:2.Background on Religious Orders -- 24:3.Types of Religious Life -- 24:4.Canonical Status -- 24:5.Conflict between Orders and Bishops -- 24:6.Membership -- 24:7.Orders and Difficulties with Canonical Process -- 24:8.Religious and the Norms -- 24:9.The Norms Affecting Religious -- 24:10.Transfers between Religious Houses -- 24:11.What about Non-clerical Members? -- 24:12.Penalties -- 24:13.Proactive Efforts -- 24:14.Summary -- 25.The Investigation and Pretrial Canonical Process -- 25:1.Canonical Sources for Procedure -- 25:2.Why Should the Church Conduct an Investigation? -- 25:3.Canonical versus Other Organizational Processes -- 25:4.The Roles of the Bishop -- 25:5.The Complaint -- 25:6.The Preliminary Investigation -- 25:7.Is the Alleged Act a "More Grave Delict"? -- 25:8.Is the Person a Canonical Minor? -- 25:9.Prescription -- 25:10.The Investigation -- 25:11.Who Conducts the Investigation? -- 25:12.When Is the Accused Notified? -- 25:13.Diocesan Review Board -- 25:14.What Are the Accused Cleric's Canonical Rights? -- 25:15.The Case Proceeds to CDF -- 25:16.The Bishop's Votum or Opinion -- 25:17.What Are the Congregation's Options? -- 25:18.Voluntary Return to the Lay State -- 25:19.CDF Takes the Case Itself -- 25:20.Automatic "Ex Officio" Dismissal -- 25:21.Judicial Trial -- 25:22.Administrative Process -- 25:23.Life of Prayer and Penance -- 25:24.Conclusion -- 26.The Accuser and the Canonical Process -- 26:1.Canonical Role of the Accuser -- 26:2.Important Disclosures -- 26:3.Full Procedural Transparency -- 26:4.Is the Accusation Covered by the Norms? -- 26:5.The Accusation Triggers a Formal Canonical Investigation -- 26:6.What Are the Accused Cleric's Rights? -- 26:7.Does the Accuser Get an Advocate? -- 26:8.What Is Done with the Accuser's Information -- 26:9.The Accuser's Rights -- 26:10.The Right to be Heard -- 26:11.Right to Reputation and Privacy -- 26:12.The Right to Assistance -- 26:13.Conflicting Processes -- 26:14.Conclusion -- 27.Canonical Penal Trials and Outcomes -- 27:1.The Trial -- 27:2.Who Constitutes the Court -- 27:3.The Judges -- 27:4.The Promoter of Justice -- 27:5.The Canonical Notary -- 27:6.The Auditor -- 27:7.The Procurator/Advocate -- 27:8.Experts -- 27:9.Balance Re-Traumatizing of Victims with Rights of Those Accused -- 27:10.Getting Started-Procedural Delays -- 27:11.The Trial Begins -- 27:12.Joinder of the Issues -- 27:13.Discovery -- 27:14.Psychological Records -- 27:15.Witnesses, Depositions, and Hearings -- 27:16.Publication of the Acts -- 27:17.Concluding the Evidentiary Part of the Case -- 27:18.Final Statements -- 27:19.Rendering the Decision -- 27:20.Trial Verdict and Sentencing -- 27:21.Exoneration -- 27:22.Verdict of Not Proven -- 27:23.A Guilty Verdict -- 27:24.The Appeal -- 27:25.The Aftermath -- 27:26.Conclusion -- 28.Limitations and Weaknesses in the Canonical Penal System -- 28:1.Viability of the Current Canonical System -- 28:2.What Is at Stake in This Process -- 28:3.Inadequacies of the System -- 28:4.The Juxtaposition of Canon and Civil Law -- 28:5.Volume of Cases -- 28:6.Overarching Assumptions -- 28:7.Bishops -- 28:8.Lack of Episcopal Accountability -- 28:9.Judges -- 28:10.Judicial Discretion -- 28:11.Advocates/Procurators -- 28:12.The Assumption That Timeliness Is Beneficial -- 28:13.The Assumption of Witness Cooperation and Good Faith -- 28:14.The Potential for the Lack of a Definitive Outcome -- 28:15.The Inherent Problems with Dismissal -- 28:16.An Uncomfortable Question -- 28:17.Unreasonable Expectations -- 28:18.Conclusion -- 29.Clergy Abuse Issues in Non-Roman Catholic Denominations -- 29:1.Overview -- 29:2.How Other Congregations Have Responded -- 29:3.Other Denominations -- 29:4.Constitutional Issues and Cases of Non-Catholic Defendants.
- Summary
- Legal disputes over worldwide and U.S. sexual abuse by Catholic priests, and over efforts by Catholic bishops to conceal clerical misconduct, have produced many headlines and public discussion. However, the precise legal issues involved remain a mystery to most observers. In this study, James O'Reilly and Margaret Chalmers examine the role of canon law in these cases and the interplay between the global church-based law and the laws of individual jurisdictions where criminal actions and lawsuits are brought.
- Subject(s)
- ISBN
- 9780199350209 (ebook)
- Bibliography Note
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
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