Editorial: Taking the low road in diocese bankruptcy Editorial Board Gallup Independent November 23, 2015 Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court. — Proverbs 22:22 The Diocese of Gallup’s Chapter 11 case recently reached some dismal milestones. The case began its third year in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in November. Recent quarterly billing statements show the Gallup Diocese has racked up more than $3.2 million in bankruptcy costs. Now, attorneys in the case are headed back for their third mediation session after two failed earlier attempts. For anyone who naively believes this bankruptcy case might actually deliver some justice for the clergy sex abuse claimants, they should read the 12-page statement filed in court recently by attorney Edward A. Mazel. His statement is a sobering reminder that the protection of money — not the promotion of justice — is at the heart of this case. Mazel represents the New Mexico Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association, an entity created by state law that oversees the coverage of claims by insolvent insurers. In the Diocese of Gallup case, it involves liability insurance policies the diocese bought from the now-defunct Home Insurance Company. Mazel’s statement on behalf of his insurance client is a classic example of why the public frequently views both lawyers and insurance companies with similar distaste. Mazel doesn’t even bother to pay superficial lip service to the victims in this case, the clergy sex abuse claimants. Rather, his primary interest appears to be protecting his client from having to pay out much money on the diocese’s insurance policies. Using his convoluted interpretation of insurance terminology and the law, Mazel lays out a series of possible legal defenses his client might assert against the insurance claims. His most specious defense is based on the Home Insurance Company’s policy that “specifically excludes coverage for bodily injury that is either expected or intended by the insured.” Citing the example of the Rev. Clement Hageman, a credibly accused perpetrator, Mazel claims, “NMPCIGA believes these assertions, along with factual evidence, trigger the ‘expected or intended’ injury exclusion since there would be no coverage for Hageman’s alleged misconduct, and no coverage to the Debtor because the injury would be expected or intended as a result of his alleged misconduct.” Regardless of what some diocesan officials knew about sexual abuse in the Gallup Diocese, no one could argue that the sexual abuse of children was intended. The clergy abuse claimants were sexually molested when they were minor children with no legal say about what schools or churches they would attend. Neither they nor their parents could have possibly expected or intended sexual molestation as a result of attendance at a Catholic school or parish. Mazel’s suggested legal defense is offensive. And what was the purpose of Mazel’s statement to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David T. Thuma? Mazel, who states he practiced bankruptcy law “under the mentorship” of Thuma on his law firm’s website, states the purpose is to “simply outline and summarize the complexity of the issues” for his former mentor and “simply to aid the Court in reaching a determination on how to manage this case.” Leave it to a lawyer to come up with such a disingenuous piece of malarkey. No, the real reason was to deliver a message to the sex abuse claimants. As all the parties are heading back to the mediation table for the third time Dec. 3-4, the New Mexico Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association is taking the low road by trying to intimidate abuse claimants with the wearying prospect of ongoing litigation over insurance coverage. On the other hand, the Diocese of Gallup’s other insurer, Catholic Mutual, has the opportunity to take the high road. A group of Catholic bishops founded and currently direct Catholic Mutual. And it was Catholic bishops who had the authority to change the outcome of the sex abuse crisis if they had chosen to protect innocent children rather than protect the church’s reputation and criminal clerics. The Catholic bishops who run Catholic Mutual have a similar moral choice now. Catholic Mutual can take the high road. Its attorneys can work with the mediator and attorneys for abuse survivors and the Gallup Diocese to come up with a settlement that is truly just for the abuse claimants. Catholic Mutual can put pressure on the New Mexico Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association to get off the low road it is traveling and come to the mediation table with a decent and fair settlement offer. Both insurance organizations have the power to bring the Diocese of Gallup’s bankruptcy case to a close with a good resolution. But they both need to demonstrate that the promotion of justice — not the protection of insurance money — is at the heart of their motivation. In this space only does the opinion of the Gallup Independent Editorial Board appear.

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