BishopAccountability.org
	Plan Filed to Settle Sex Abuse Lawsuits By Mark Sauer and Sandi Dolbee Union-Tribune [San Diego CA] March 29, 2007 http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20070329-9999-1m29diocese.html In documents that foretell fierce legal battles to come, bankruptcy attorneys for the Diocese of San Diego last night filed their plan for settling about 150 lawsuits alleging sexual abuse of children by Roman Catholic priests. Attorneys representing the alleged victims promptly labeled the filing "premature" and "meaningless" in the month-old Chapter 11 process, which could last years. In hundreds of pages, the diocese's Reorganization Plan details how church officials aim to establish a $95 million pool. Payments would range from about $10,000 to $800,000 to victims settling lawsuits for abuse by clergy in incidents dating back decades. That figure represents roughly half of what plaintiffs were expected to be seeking in four years of closed-door negotiations. Settlements and jury awards in such cases in California have ranged from about $1.1 million to $1.6 million, according to plaintiffs' attorneys. Half of San Diego's proposed $95 million fund would come from the diocese and half from its insurer, Catholic Mutual, according to Susan Boswell, a Tucson attorney and lead bankruptcy lawyer for the diocese. Individual parishes named in the claims also could elect to contribute money. The diocese proposes to categorize abuse victims in four tiers, from the most egregious abuse to lesser acts. Boswell, who represented Tucson's diocese in its bankruptcy reorganization case, said she considers the $95 million offer realistic. "If I thought it was unrealistic, I would not have put it in the plan," she said last night. But plaintiffs' attorneys, who conceded they had not had time to study the proposal, said they were soured by the fact that the diocese did not list assets worth tens of millions of dollars in its original financial report filed with the bankruptcy court. For example, diocese attorneys have admitted to failing to include a pending $65 million deal to sell the 14-acre site of the former University of San Diego High School in Linda Vista to a condo developer, plaintiffs' lawyers said. The diocese claimed any discrepancy in the original financial declaration was "an oversight," said plaintiffs' attorney Irwin Zalkin, though the errors have yet to be corrected. "They also list a $70 million debt that is not real," said Zalkin, who represents 30 plaintiffs. "It's very difficult to believe these are oversights that were 'just missed' by experienced bankruptcy counsel." Attorney Andrea Leavitt, who has seven San Diego clients suing the diocese in the five-year-old litigation, was blunt: "This reorganization plan is a pointless exercise at this stage apparently done for public-relations benefit." Boswell said she planned to amend the diocese financial statement today. She also said that how the San Diego payments are structured is similar to what was done in Tucson. Payments there totaled $22 million, with individual awards ranging from $100,000 to $600,000. Tucson, which is about one-third the size of San Diego's diocese, resolved its case in less than a year. Boswell said she's hoping for the same here. "I would hope that all the interested parties would come together in achieving a resolution that could have confirmation of a plan where distributions could be made in a year – if not shorter," she said. Several legal fights loom in the pages of the diocese's plan. A key issue involves whether hundreds of millions worth of wealth held within the 99 parishes belongs to the diocese. Plaintiffs' attorneys claim it does, pushing the San Diego diocese's worth nearer $1 billion than the $95 million offered. The diocese claims parish churches, schools, housing, other property and cash belong to the separate parishes. Diocese attorneys also seek to revisit the California law which suspended the statute of limitations on the filing of lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by clergy. The law opened a window in which to file decades-old cases during calendar year 2003. The diocese has failed three times in attempts to strike down the law as unconstitutional. The most recent loss was in December 2005, when a feder al-court judge refused to overturn it. The range of compensation to victims would be based on a four-tier scale depending on the nature of the abuse. The highest level, according to the proposal, will mean "sexual abuse consisting of penetration, including penetration with an object and/or sexual intercourse." The lowest tier would include "acts which do not involve touching," such as the priest exposing himself to the victim, or taking "inappropriate photographs or video" of the victim. Other factors would include the victim's age when abused, the duration and frequency of the abuse and whether the priest had a history of abuse. The next scheduled hearing in the bankruptcy case before federal Judge Louise DeCarl Adler is on April 11. Mark Sauer: (619) 293-2227; mark.sauer@uniontrib.com
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.