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	Lawyer: Diocese Is Judge Shopping The Associated Press, carried in Rutland Herald [Vermont] May 7, 2006 http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article? AID=/20060507/NEWS/605070358/1004/EDUCATION05 BURLINGTON — The attorney for a group of people suing Vermont's Roman Catholic Church is accusing the diocese of "judge shopping" by asking the presiding judge in the abuse cases to recuse himself. Attorney James O'Neill said in court documents that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington was upset because Chittenden County Superior Court Judge Ben Joseph allowed the release of documents that showed how church officials protected pedophile priests "Hiding information is deleterious to the victims, and if defendant diocese could think it through, deleterious to itself," O'Neill said in the memorandum. "The diocese in effect is judge shopping." Diocese attorney David Cleary called O'Neill's allegation offensive. "Judge shopping is inferring you are looking for someone who will give you a better deal," Cleary said. "We are looking for an even playing field, and right now, we don't have it." On April 19 Joseph lifted a gag order that prevented the release of church records and other documents relating to the sexual abuse allegations. Joseph is the presiding judge in 15 priest sex-abuse cases. On April 19, Michael Gay of South Burlington settled an abuse case with the church for $965,000. Gay claimed he was abused in 1978 by a Burlington priest. Cleary says that the lifting of the gag order caused a flurry of media stories about the sex-abuse cases. He argues the church cannot get a fair trial and wants Joseph to recuse himself in the remaining cases. O'Neill said the lifting of the gag order was a condition of Gay's settlement. "There is no legitimate basis to keep those documents under seal and provide the diocese with another safe haven for its misconduct," O'Neill said in the court filing.
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