LOS ANGELES (CA)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES -- The head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles asked the U.S. Supreme Court to let the church keep two priests' personnel records out of the hands of investigators in a sex abuse probe.
Attorneys for Cardinal Roger M. Mahony filed the petition Thursday, arguing that giving prosecutors private records on two priests would violate the constitutional separation of church and state.
The archdiocese is appealing a decision by the California Supreme Court last year ordering it to produce the files, which were subpoenaed three years ago.
Archdiocese attorney Michael Hennigan argued that the cardinal needed "protection of his continued ability to have confidential, and what we call sacred, communication with his priests."