Judge: Media Can Intervene in Priest Files Fight

By The Associated Press
Mercury News
December 27, 2012

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_22269405/judge-media-can-intervene-priest-files-fight

LOS ANGELES—A judge has ruled that media organizations can intervene to oppose redactions in the personnel files of priests accused of sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

Los Angeles County Judge Emilie Elias on Thursday said The Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times can argue against the redactions at a Jan. 7 hearing.

The Los Angeles archdiocese plans to release the files by Jan. 14 under the terms of a previous judge's order, which allows it to black out the names of some accused clerics and all church officials.

The media attorneys argue such broad redactions will make it impossible to know which church leaders were aware of abuse and what they did with that knowledge.

They say the public interest outweighs the priests' privacy rights.