Lawyers Want Judge to Reassign Perlitz Case Because of Jesuit Ties
By Michael P. Mayko
Lawyers seeking hundreds of millions of dollars for 23 Haitian street boys who claim they were sexually abused by Fairfield University alumnus Douglas Perlitz asked a federal judge late Thursday to reassign the cases because of his Jesuit ties. U.S. District Judge Robert Chatigny, who is presiding over the case, has a law degree from Georgetown University, which is operated by the Society of Jesus' Maryland Province. The Society of Jesus' New England Province is one of the defendants in the case. Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston lawyer who heads the plaintiffs' legal team, requested that the cases be assigned to U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven.Arterton handled Perlitz's criminal case and sentenced Perlitz to 19 years and seven months in prison for traveling overseas to engage in sex with a minor. The abuse led to the closure of Project Pierre Toussaint, a program founded by Perlitz to feed, clothe, shelter and educate homeless boys in Cap-Haitien, Haiti's second largest city. More than $600,000 for the program was raised at Fairfield University, and several Fairfield University employees were board members of the Haiti Fund, the fundraising arm of Project Pierre Toussaint. The transfer request comes just days after Chatigny heard motions to dismiss the 22 cases from lawyers for several defendants including Fairfield University; the Society of Jesus, New England Province and the Rev. Paul Carrier, who belongs to the Society of Jesus, served as chaplain and director of campus ministry at Fairfield University and helped raise money for Perlitz's program. During the hearing, Chatigny informed the lawyers that he attended Georgetown University Law Center and is an active alumnus. The judge also told the lawyers that his wife teaches at a private school that sends students to third-world countries as volunteers, similar to Fairfield's student volunteers in Perlitz's program. Stanley A. Twardy Jr., whose Day Pitney law firm represents Fairfield University, said the plaintiffs' recusal request is "totally without merit. We will be filing a response opposing it next week." The Maryland Province has ties to the New England Province, which operates Fairfield University, according to Garabedian. Both Georgetown and Fairfield University are part of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. In his court filing, Garabedian said the Rev. Jeffrey von Arx, Fairfield University's president, is closely affiliated with Georgetown, having once served as chairman of its history department. "Upon consideration of the issue and consideration of remarks of the court at the Aug. 7 hearing, plaintiffs now believe that an appearance of impropriety does exist and respectfully requests" Chatigny to reassign the cases, Garabedian wrote, asking him "to avoid this appearance." Chatigny has not acted on the request. If he steps aside, it would be the second time a judge reassigned the cases because of possible conflicts. Earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall had the cases reassigned to Chatigny. Garabedian also noted Jesuits in training were dispatched to Perlitz's program. "As discovery proceeds in this case, the Maryland Province may turn out to be implicated in events at PPT, if Jesuits from the Maryland Province were present there during the molestations that give rise to the plaintiffs' claims," Garabedian wrote. "Members of the Maryland Province, including Jesuits affiliated with Georgetown University, may be witnesses in these actions. The possibility that Georgetown University may become embroiled in this action at a later date provides additional grounds for disqualification." The transfer request also comes at a time when Paul Kendrick, a Fairfield University graduate who has been advocating for the Haitian victims for several years, urged Chatigny to step aside. In the past few weeks, Kendrick and the Ignatius Group, a network of nationwide advocates for sexual abuse victims, have sent out emails citing U.S. Senate testimony that questioned Chatigny for reducing sentences below the Federal Sentencing Guideline recommendations in cases of defendants convicted of sex crimes. At that time, the Senate was considering Chatigny's nomination to the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. The judge later withdrew it. "I had been advocating publicly for Judge Chatigny to recuse himself so these Haitian children receive, without any question, the full impartiality of the U.S. judicial system," Kendrick said. [href="mayko@ctpost.com 203-330-6286; http://twitter.com/mmayko2011." class="link">]
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