BishopAccountability.org
	Judge Stepping Aside before Ky. Church Sex Abuse Case Wrapped up By Paul A. Long The Cincinnati Post [Kentucky] September 14, 2006 http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060914/NEWS01/609140355 The judge who helped guide the multi-million dollar settlement of a class-action lawsuit alleging 50 years of sexual abuse in the Covington Diocese announced he is leaving the case with some loose ends. "It's been my hope that before my days run out, I'll have this case on an even keel," Senior Judge John Potter said from the bench after overseeing his last hearing Wednesday. "But that didn't happen. It's a little unsettled." Potter is part of the senior judge program in Kentucky, which requires him to serve an average of 120 days a year for up to five years so that he can collect a pension equal to 100 percent of his salary in his last year as full-time judge. In a surprising statement after a contentious hearing, Potter said he will complete his service in four days, and has asked William Wehr, the former Campbell Circuit judge who is administrator of the senior judges program, to name a replacement in time for a Sept. 29 hearing. Also Wednesday, Robert Steinberg, who represents those abused by priests, said the first awards from an $85 million fund set up by the diocese to resolve sex abuse claims against it were approved Tuesday and victims should be receiving checks within two weeks. He declined to give further details, saying the process is secret to protect the identity of the victims. But the timetable is what he expected after the settlement was reached last year and approved early this year, he said. Steinberg and partner Stan Chesley, with several other attorneys, filed a lawsuit in Boone County in 2003, claiming a 50-year cover-up of sexual abuse by priests and other employees of the diocese. The diocese agreed last year to put up $40 million to help settle the case. Originally, insurance companies were to kick in another $80 million, but that figure was cut to $45 million when fewer victims than expected came forward. Potter, a former circuit judge from Jefferson County appointed to the case after the original judge retired, approved the settlement in February, writing that it was "fair, reasonable and adequate." But a number of his actions since then have angered attorneys on both sides. The hearing Wednesday was to deal with attorneys' fees and a claim by attorney Barbara Bonar that she is entitled to a portion of those fees. During the hearing, attorneys hinted they might seek to replace Potter, in part because he might have had conversations with other parties about the case that are affecting his judgment. Potter told them to do what they had to do. "I think if you all have a motion to recuse, you should just file it." Neither Steinberg nor Carrie Huff, who represents the diocese, would comment on Potter's leaving. But last week, Steinberg filed an appeal of a ruling Potter made that both he and Huff strongly objected to: that the parties hand over to local prosecutors the names and addresses of those who said they were abused to determine if their abusers could be prosecuted. Steinberg said that order would violate the confidentiality procedures put in place to protect the identity of victims reluctant to come forward.
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