JACKSON (MS)
The Clarion-Ledger
By Jimmie E. Gates
jgates@clarionledger.com
A state Supreme Court panel heard more than an hour of arguments Monday on whether the First Amendment bars civil litigation against the Catholic Diocese of Jackson over alleged priest sexual abuse.
At stake is a $48 million lawsuit filed in 2002 in Hinds County Circuit Court by three brothers against the diocese saying they were sexually abused by a priest more than 30 years ago.
If the state's highest court rules the First Amendment doctrine of church autonomy gives the church control over its ecclesiastical matters, the lawsuit likely will be thrown out, lawyers for the plaintiffs say.
Last year, Circuit Judge Winston Kidd ruled the First Amendment didn't protect the diocese against the civil litigation. The diocese appealed to the state Supreme Court, saying the lawsuit infringes on the diocese's constitutional rights.