The source of the privacy and other privileges being claimed by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles with respect to the confidential personnel files of priests are found specifically in the California State Constitution and the Evidence Code, said archdiocesan legal counsel.

The personnel files of 30 priests are being sought by the Los Angeles District Attorney in conjunction with criminal allegations of sexual abuse of minors. However, every worker's personnel file --- a bus driver, teacher, police officer or priest --- is enshrined in the right to privacy law, as rooted in the State Constitution, said Margaret Graf, general counsel for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The California Constitution protects every citizen from having his or her personnel files released without a judicial evaluation.

Secondly, said Graf, the California State Evidence Code grants specific privileges and protections to various kinds of relationships, such as lawyer-client, husband-wife, psychotherapist-patient and clergy-penitent.

Everyone has the right to receive confidential counseling from a religious advisor --- for example a Catholic priest, a Protestant minister or a Jewish rabbi in various settings (confessional or office). The Clergy-Penitent privilege protects the ability of penitents to have confidential communications about any aspect of their life that is troubling them, Graf said. It also includes spiritual counseling between a priest and bishop, she said.

Confidential penitent communications, asserts the archdiocese, is a fundamental way the church provides lifelong assistance to every Catholic and to every Catholic priest. Graf noted that these privileges along with the protections in the U.S. Constitution are essential to the way the church governs itself and assures assistance to the faithful. She added that archdiocesan defense counsel, led by J. Michael Hennigan, is taking these positions on behalf of the archdiocese, "because they are essential to the church as we understand it."

Following are specific sources in the California Constitution and the California State Evidence Code:

CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTION

ARTICLE 1: Declaration of Rights

Section 1. All people are by nature free and independent and have inalienable rights. Among these are enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy.

CALIFORNIA STATE EVIDENCE CODE

IV. Lawyer-Client Privilege

V. Husband-Wife Privilege

VI. Physician-Patient Privilege

VII. Psychotherapist-Patient Privilege

VIII. Clergy-Penitent Privilege

IX. Sexual Assault Victim-Counselor Privilege

X. Domestic Violence Victim-Counselor Privilege

XI. Privilege for Official Information

XII. Privilege for Elected Officials and their Aides

XIII. Privilege for Identity of Informer

XIV. Newsperson's Shield Law

XV. Trade Secret Privilege

XVI. Privilege Against Self-Incrimination

XVII. Special Privacy Statutes

EVIDENCE CODE: Sections 1030-1034 (Clergy-Penitent Privilege)

1030. As used in this article, a "member of the clergy" means a priest, minister, religious practitioner, or similar functionary of a church or of a religious denomination or religious organization.

1031. As used in this article, "penitent" means a person who has made a penitential communication to a member of the clergy.

1032. As used in this article, "penitential communication" means a communication made in confidence, in the presence of no third person so far as the penitent is aware, to a member of the clergy who, in the course of the discipline or practice of the clergy member's church, denomination, or organization, is authorized or accustomed to hear those communications and, under the discipline or tenets of his or her church, denomination, or organization, has a duty to keep those communications secret.

1033. Subject to Section 912, a penitent, whether or not a party, has a privilege to refuse to disclose, and to prevent another from disclosing, a penitential communication if he or she claims the privilege.

1034. Subject to Section 912, a member of the clergy, whether or not a party, has a privilege to refuse to disclose a penitential communication if he or she claims the privilege.