Editor's note: What documents are being sought by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office as it investigates allegations of sexual abuse? Which documents are involved in the settlement of abuse lawsuits? Why does the Archdiocese continue to assert that certain documents are confidential?
The answers to these questions are straightforward enough, but have been confused by some, including members of the local media. In an effort to set the record straight, attorneys for the Archdiocese recently sat down with The Tidings and explained the documents issue.
"The first thing that people need to be clear about is that there are two separate legal processes going on," said Michael Hennigan, lead attorney for the Archdiocese. "One is civil and the other is criminal."
Civil proceedings
Hennigan said the civil proceedings involve the 560 lawsuits that have been filed against the Archdiocese alleging sexual abuse by priests and others. To make the process more efficient, these cases were consolidated by the Court, and for the past three years lawyers for the Archdiocese and lawyers for the plaintiffs in the lawsuits have been involved in negotiations to reach a comprehensive settlement of the claims. The goal is to make sure that all victims are compensated fairly without having to go through hundreds of individual trials.
"As settlement talks got underway, it quickly became apparent that there were certain archdiocesan documents which the plaintiffs' attorneys would want but which the archdiocese felt were confidential because they involve communications between a bishop and priest, psychological treatment and the like," Hennigan explained. "This was obviously a complicated issue, and if the courts had to decide who was right, compensation for the victims could be delayed for years."
To avoid this delay, attorneys for the archdiocese proposed preparing "proffers." In essence, these proffers summarize information in the confidential files of accused priests that would give plaintiffs' attorneys the information they need to negotiate settlements for their clients. Plaintiffs' attorneys agreed to this process. Each proffer was reviewed by a judge to make sure it was accurate and complete, Hennigan said.
In addition to giving the proffers to the plaintiffs' attorneys, the archdiocese wanted to release them to the public so that there would be a clear understanding of how complaints of abuse were handled over several decades.
"However, several individual priests objected to the release of any information from their personnel files," Hennigan said. "The Court heard their appeals, but then said that nothing prevented the archdiocese from releasing much of the information contained in the proffers. So we went ahead with the public release of information in the form of 'summaries.'"
Criminal investigations involve two priests
While legal activity surrounding the civil cases has progressed, entirely separate criminal proceedings have moved forward as well. These criminal proceedings involve an investigation by the Los Angeles County District Attorney of two priests. Both priests are no longer in ministry.
As part of his investigation, the District Attorney persuaded a Grand Jury to issue subpoenas for documents in archdiocesan personnel files. The archdiocese gave all of the requested information to the Court but said that certain documents should not, in turn, be given to the District Attorney.
"The archdiocese's position is that these documents involve confidential communications between bishop and priests, and that revealing them would destroy that sacred relationship," said Hennigan. "This is an unwarranted intrusion into the way the Catholic Church practices religion. For this reason, we believe the documents should be protected by the religion clauses of the First Amendment."
Hennigan said the archdiocese also maintains that there are other protections involved, such as that which shields therapist-patient communications.
"The District Attorney, on the other had, maintains that he must have the documents in order to prosecute --- even though for years district attorneys across the state have been successfully prosecuting abuse cases, even ones against priests, without such information," Hennigan said.
The dispute is currently before the courts. "It's a complicated matter because while the archdiocese objects to turning over only certain documents to the District Attorney, the individual priests object to turning over any documents. And it's not clear when the issues will be resolved. There have already been several court rulings and there will certainly be more.
"Right now, the dispute centers not on thousands of pages of documents --- because thousands of pages have already been turned over by the archdiocese. At issue are just 21 pages," Hennigan said.
Documents: At a Glance
Two separate matters: one civil, one criminal.
In Civil cases:
---"Proffers" provided essential information from clergy files.
---Plaintiffs' attorneys approved "proffers."
---Much of information later released to public in form of "summaries."
In Criminal cases:
---Thousands of pages already turned over by archdiocese.
---Still at issue: only 21 pages.
---First Amendment issue: Unwarranted intrusion into religion.
---Many successful prosecutions without such documents. |