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	Judge to Decide Whether Newspaper Can Look at Church Sex-Abuse Claims The Associated Press, carried in The Seattle Times [Spokane WA] May 12, 2006 http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002988657_church12m.html SPOKANE — A federal judge will decide whether a newspaper can see sex-abuse claims against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane, which wants to block their release to avoid possible disclosure of unfounded allegations against priests. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Patricia Williams has scheduled a hearing Monday on The Spokesman-Review's request to look at versions of the claims with claimants' names deleted. The newspaper has formally objected to a diocese motion to seal court records in the case. Copies of the claims already have been made available to attorneys and others working on the case. There are about 175 individual claims against the diocese, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2004 because of the sex-abuse scandal. A recent court filing in a related lawsuit said more than a dozen abusers whose identities have not been made public are named in the claims that the newspaper seeks. In earlier court filings, the diocese said it was seeking to seal copies of the claims to protect the identities of sexual-abuse victims. Shaun Cross, an attorney representing the diocese, said keeping the claims confidential is also a matter of fairness to priests because disclosure of unfounded allegations could be devastating to them. The diocese has an internal-review system to determine whether the allegations are unfounded, he said. Diocesan officials have said some of the claims filed in bankruptcy court involve priests in other states or dioceses, or are obviously unfounded on their face. The newspaper's lawyers sought the hearing after lawyers for Bishop William Skylstad rejected the newspaper's request for access. The newspaper has asked the court to modify an earlier order governing the confidentiality of sex-abuse claims in the case to allow reporters to see the claims, without victims' names.
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