BishopAccountability.org
	Mahony Must Give D.A. Files By Jean Guccione and William Lobdell Los Angeles Times April 18, 2006 http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-me-priests18 apr18,1,4863814.story?coll=la-headlines-frontpage Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, rebuffed Monday by the U.S. Supreme Court in his request to keep two accused priests' personnel files private, now must turn those documents over to a grand jury and face the growing possibility that he may soon be forced to relinquish more confidential church records involving alleged sexual abuse. Attorneys for the Los Angeles archbishop had argued that all communication between a bishop and his priests — including that about allegations of sexual abuse and resulting investigations — was protected under the 1st Amendment. In declining to hear his case, the Supreme Court effectively let stand a California appellate court decision that rejected the constitutional claim. This was good news for prosecutors, who said their inability to view such confidential records had hampered their investigation of two priests. The documents initially will remain part of secret grand jury proceedings but could become public later in criminal court. "This will send a message that these sorts of records, this sort of information is not something they can keep secret and away from a lawful prosecution," said Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley. "We're entitled to go get the evidence where the evidence exists." Church officials called the court's decision disappointing. "We accept the court's ruling," archdiocesan officials said in a statement. "This ruling will have no effect on the ongoing efforts of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to settle the civil cases through mediation." Because of the statute of limitations, only two Los Angeles priests face possible criminal charges. But the archdiocese has been named in more than 500 civil cases, filed by people who say they were molested by priests or others working in the church. After three years of private mediation talks, a judge in November placed 44 civil cases on track for trial later this year. Attorneys have requested priests' files for the cases but said they haven't yet received a response from the archdiocese. The high court's refusal to step in Monday may have a bearing on those cases too, constitutional law experts said. "The bottom line is, the same principle will apply in the civil and criminal cases," said Erwin Chemerinsky, a constitutional law professor at Duke Law School. A church spokesman declined to say whether Mahony would fight the release of priest files in the civil cases. The California appellate court ruling that was left in force Monday said "religious believers and institutions" must follow "the rules of civil society, particularly when the state's compelling interest in protecting children is in question." Mahony has fought more vigorously than any other United States prelate to block attempts by prosecutors and plaintiffs' attorneys to gain access to internal church documents, a stance that has drawn heavy criticism even from the U.S. bishops' own national review board. Leaders of Roman Catholic dioceses elsewhere, including in Orange County, Arizona, New Hampshire and Long Island, N.Y., have voluntarily turned over similar files to civil authorities. "This has been an unprecedented and titanic fight," said Jeffery Anderson, one of the lead attorneys for the alleged victims in the Los Angeles civil cases. "Only Mahony had the audacity to do something like this." With the Supreme Court refusing to take up the case, prosecutors will within the next few days receive documents in the personnel files of former priest Michael Baker and retired priest George Miller, both accused of molesting children. Cooley said he would decide how to proceed after reviewing the 21 pages of information. The documents had been held by the court while the archdiocese challenged their release. When the criminal investigation began in 2002, Mahony promised to cooperate with authorities. But months later, his lawyers asserted an array of legal privileges — including those protecting communications between a priest and penitent — to keep 3,000 pages of documents involving priests from the grand jury. Mahony's lawyers compared a bishop's relationship with his priest to that of a father and son, and even of a husband and wife.
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