MINNESOTA
Star Tribune
Article by: JEAN HOPFENSPERGER , Star Tribune Updated: January 13, 2014
Church lawyers say court ‘exceeded its jurisdiction’ in ordering names of all the accused, including those not “credibly accused.”
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona have asked for more time to challenge a judge’s order to release the names of all priests accused of sexually abusing children and teens since 2004.
A Ramsey District Court judge had initially given the church a Jan. 6 deadline to file the list of priests more recently accused of abuse. Earlier this month, Judge John Van de North postponed that deadline to Feb. 5.
But lawyers for the church argued that the court “exceeded its jurisdiction” when it ordered that the names of all priests accused of abuse, whether “credibly accused” or not, be made public. It filed papers in Ramsey District Court Friday, asking the court to delay the Feb. 5 deadline, pending an opportunity to “fully brief the issue” before the court.
“It is the Archdiocese position that this Court has exceeded its jurisdiction and authority in ordering the Archdiocese to make certain disclosures of all priests accused of child abuse regardless of when and under what circumstances those accusations were made,” wrote Daniel Haws, a lawyer for the archdiocese.
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