NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge refused Friday to recuse himself from the New Orleans Roman Catholic bankruptcy after an Associated Press report that he donated tens of thousands of dollars to archdiocese charities and consistently ruled in favor of the church in the contentious case involving nearly 500 clergy sex abuse victims.

U.S. District Judge Greg Guidry told attorneys in the high-profile case that a panel of federal judges he asked to review the possible conflict determined no “reasonable person” would question his impartiality despite his contributions and longstanding ties to the archdiocese.

Guidry read from the opinion of the Washington-based Committee on Codes of Conduct, which noted that none of the charities he donated to “has been or is an actual party” in the bankruptcy and that Guidry’s eight years on the board of the archdiocese’s charitable arm ended more than a decade before the bankruptcy.

“Based upon that advice and based upon my certainty that I can be fair and impartial, I have decided not to recuse myself,” said Guidry, who oversees the bankruptcy in an appellate role.

Guidry’s announcement came hours after AP published its report and more than a week after it confronted him with its findings.

Several ethics experts told AP the 62-year-old jurist should step aside from the case to avoid the appearance of conflict, even if it threatened to send the complex, three-year bankruptcy into disarray with a slew of new hearings and appeals of his decisions.

“It would create a mess and a cloud of suspicion over every ruling he’s made,” said Keith Swisher, a professor of legal ethics at the University of Arizona, describing the judge’s donations as “more like fire than smoke.”

Archbishop Gregory Aymond conducts a procession to lead a live streamed Easter Mass in St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans, Sunday, April 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

AP’s reporting on Guidry and other judges in the New Orleans bankruptcy underscores how tightly woven the church is in the city’s power structure, a coziness perhaps best exemplified when executives of the NFL’s New Orleans Saints secretly advised the archdiocese on public relations messaging at the height of its clergy abuse crisis.

It also comes at a fraught moment when attorneys in the bankruptcy are seeking to unseal a trove of thousands of secret church documents produced by lawsuits and an ongoing FBI investigation of clergy abuse in New Orleans going back decades. Guidry had rebuffed at least one such request to unseal some of the documents.

AP’s review of campaign-finance records found that Guidry, since being nominated to the federal bench in 2019 by then-President Donald Trump, has given nearly $50,000 to local Catholic charities from leftover contributions he received after serving 10 years as a Louisiana Supreme Court justice.

Most of that giving, $36,000 of it, came in the months after the archdiocese sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May 2020 amid a crush of sexual abuse lawsuits. That included a $12,000 donation to the archdiocese’s Catholic Community Foundation in September 2020 on the same day of a series of filings in the bankruptcy, and a $14,000 donation to the same charity in July of the following year.

But the advisory opinion Guidry cited Friday noted that his contributions to the Catholic charities amounted to less than 25 percent of the campaign funds he had available to donate. It also said “simply participating as a faithful participant in the life of your parish and the archdiocese of which it is a part cannot amount to a reasonable basis for questioning impartiality in litigation involving the church.”

Guidry’s philanthropy over the years also appears to include private donations. Newsletters issued by Catholic Charities of New Orleans, the charitable arm of the archdiocese, recognized Guidry and his wife among its donors for unspecified contributions, in 2017 listing both the judge and his campaign. The judge previously provided pro bono services and served as a board member for Catholic Charities between 2000 and 2008, a time when the archdiocese was navigating an earlier wave of sex abuse lawsuits. Catholic Charities was involved in at least one multimillion-dollar settlement to victims beaten and sexually abused at two local orphanages.

Within a year of his most recent contributions, Guidry began issuing rulings that altered the momentum of the bankruptcy and benefited the archdiocese.

Guidry upheld the removal of several members from a committee of victims seeking compensation from the church. Those plaintiffs repeatedly complained about a lack of transparency in the case and argued that the archdiocese’s primary reason for seeking the legal protection was to minimize payouts. The Moody’s rating agency found that the archdiocese sought bankruptcy despite having “significant financial reserves, with spendable cash and investments of over $160 million.

And just last month, Guidry affirmed a $400,000 sanction against Richard Trahant, a veteran attorney for clergy abuse victims who was accused of violating a sweeping confidentiality order when he warned a local principal that his school had hired a priest who admitted to sex abuse. Trahant, who declined to comment, has become a prominent adversary of the archdiocese, drawing attention to what he calls a conspiracy by top church officials in New Orleans to cover up clergy abuse.

Charles Geyh, a professor at Indiana University who studies judicial ethics, said Guidry’s generous donations and close ties to the church are clearly reasons to question his ability to be a fair referee.

“Not only has the judge made significant financial contributions to a church whose archdiocese is a party in litigation before him, but those contributions are inextricably linked to his status as a judge,” Geyh said. “The judge chose to donate the overflow of campaign funds generated to further his professional life as a judge to further his religious life in the church, which implies a connection in the judge’s mind between his religious and professional identities.”

In heavily Catholic New Orleans, Guidry is far from the only federal judge with longstanding ties to the archdiocese. Several of Guidry’s colleagues have recused themselves from the bankruptcy or related litigation. They include U.S. District Judge Wendy Vitter, who for years worked as general counsel for the archdiocese, defending the church against a cascade of sex abuse claims before Trump nominated her to the federal bench in 2018. Another federal judge, Ivan Lemelle, serves on the board of the Catholic Community Foundation.

Yet another, U.S. District Judge Jay Zainey recused himself from cases related to the bankruptcy after publicly acknowledging the role he played in the behind-the-scenes media relations campaign that executives of the New Orleans Saints did for the archdiocese in 2018 and 2019. At the time, Zainey told The Times-Picayune he would recuse himself from future church-related cases.

Members of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests hold signs during a conference in front of the New Orleans Saints training facility in Metairie, La., Wednesday Jan. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton, File)

But less than a year ago, Zainey quietly struck down a Louisiana law, vigorously opposed by the archdiocese, that created a so called look-back window allowing victims of sexual abuse to sue the church and other institutions no matter how long ago the alleged abuse took place. Zainey didn’t respond to a request for comment.

“These are federal judges who are incredibly active in different ministries throughout the archdiocese,” said James Adams, a past president of the Catholic Community Foundation who was abused by a priest as a fifth-grader in 1980. “I’m not saying they don’t do good works, but it certainly raises an eyebrow when they then have cases involving the Archdiocese of New Orleans.”

Jason Berry, an author who has written several books on clergy abuse and most recently a history of New Orleans, said the influence of the church on the court system in the city “stinks to high heaven.”

“The larger question here is whether justice has been compromised,” he said. “You’re talking about 500 people whose lives have been plundered, and that’s one thing many people don’t have a grasp of.”

https://apnews.com/article/catholic-church-sexual-abuse-clergy-saints-law-471b6d07f3335c4452f9a58654264494?fbclid=IwAR3QqNRNKr9CZAqLu0eEYWAOU0V4UAll9tfxjAmhkk1RxW8iyZdkO

  The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can refuse to answer questions or turn over documents under a state law 

  The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can refuse to answer questions or turn over documents under a state law that exempts religious officials from having to report child sex abuse if they learn of the crime during a confessional setting.

The ruling was issued April 7 but not released to the public until Tuesday. A lawsuit filed by child sex abuse victims accuses the church, widely known as the Mormon church, two of its bishops, and other church members of conspiracy and negligence in not reporting church member Paul Adams for abusing his older daughter as early as 2010. This negligence, the lawsuit argues, allowed Adams to continuing abusing the girl for as many as seven years, a time in which he also abused the girl’s infant sister.

Lynne Cadigan, an attorney for the Adams children who filed the lawsuit, criticized the court’s ruling.

“Unfortunately, this ruling expands the clergy privilege beyond what the legislature intended by allowing churches to conceal crimes against children,” she said.

In a statement, the church concurred with the court’s action.

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints agrees with the Arizona Supreme Court’s decision,” the statement said. “We are deeply saddened by the abuse these children suffered. The Church has no tolerance of abuse of any kind.”

Adams had also posted videos of himself sexually abusing his daughters on the internet, boasted of the abuse on social media, and confessed to federal law enforcement agents, who arrested him in 2017 with no help from the church.

Those actions prompted Cochise County Superior Court Judge Laura Cardinal to rule on Aug. 8, 2022, that Adams had waived his right to keep his 2010 confession to Bishop John Herrod secret.

“Taken together, Adams’ overt acts demonstrate a lack of repentance and a profound disregard” for the principles of the church, Cardinal said in her ruling. “His acts can only be characterized as a waiver of the clergy penitent privilege.”

Clergy in Arizona, as in many other states, are required to report information about child sexual abuse or neglect to law enforcement or child welfare authorities. An exception to that law — known as the clergy-penitent privilege — allows members of the clergy who learn of the abuse through spiritual confessions to keep the information secret.

The church has based its defense in the lawsuit on the privilege, asserting that Herrod and a second bishop who learned of Adams’ confession, Robert “Kim” Mauzy, had no legal obligation to report him for abusing his older daughter and appealed Cardinal’s ruling.

On Dec. 15, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the church, saying it did not have to turn over disciplinary records for Adams, who was excommunicated in 2013. The Appeals Court also ruled that a church official who attended a church disciplinary hearing could refuse to answer questions from the plaintiff’s attorneys during pretrial testimony, based on the clergy-penitent privilege.

Lawyers representing the Adams girls and one of their brothers took the case to the Arizona Supreme Court, where they did not prevail, according to the April ruling.

In an unusual move, Cadigan said attorneys for the three Adams children intend to file a motion asking the Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling.

An Associated Press investigation of the clergy privilege shows it exists in 33 states and that the Mormon church, often joined by the Catholic Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses and other faiths, have successfully lobbied against attempts to reform or eliminate it.

Court Rules Church Can Conceal Child Abuse If Spiritually Confessed - YouTube 

 Arizona Supreme Court Finds the Mormon Church Can Conceal Crimes Against Children Because of Clergy Privilege (knewz.com) 

 "More than 81,000 people have come forward with sex-abuse claims against the Boy Scouts of America, describing a decades-long accumulation of assaults at the hands of scout leaders across the nation who had been trusted as role models.The claims, which lawyers said far eclipsed the number of abuse accusations filed in Catholic Church cases, continued to mount ahead of a Monday deadline established in bankruptcy court in Delaware, where the Boy Scouts had sought refuge this year in a bid to survive.Paul Mones, a lawyer who has been working on Boy Scouts cases for nearly two decades, said the prevalence of abuse detailed in the filings was breathtaking and might reflect only a fraction of victims.“I knew there were a lot of cases,” Mr. Mones said. “I never contemplated it would be a number close to this.”The avalanche of claims, approximately 81,500 as of Sunday and rising rapidly as the deadline looms, set up a monumental task for the bankruptcy case as the Boy Scouts seek to one day emerge with its operations intact."

You can read the balance of the article at the link below:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2020/11/19/boy-scouts-bankruptcy-abuse/

 Catholic Church Law Firms Beat Prosecutors and Law Enforcement Like  a Drum   

Not one State government has looked for the location of the child molesters formally working for the Catholic Church. No one has tried to protect the predators from the Catholic Church to identify new cases that are within the statute of limitations. Local law enforcement agencies are not being informed of the thousands of sexual predators the Catholic Church is helping to hide in plain sight. The Catholic Church has made deals with each State's Diocese to limit prosecution of Church Leaders. No State has effectively incarcerated most child molesters masquerading as priests. States have refused to incarcerate Catholic Church leaders for their failure to report sex crimes committed by their employees. States have bowed to Church lobbying to keep statute of limitations problems in place. Justice for survivors is limited in every way. The Catholic Church has the second largest lobbying effort in the country behind #1 AARP. The most organized pedophilia organization has received immunity for its leadership. The State Police in every state has failed rape victims at every turn. They never look for these prolific rapists, much less current victims of abuse. State police chase revenue from traffic offenses instead of rapists in their community.  

A Little Respect Goes a Long Way 

Bishop Gregory has been rude to survivors of clergy abuse. His organization has taken his lack of civility and manners as an institutional policy. He has spoken about his commitment to help clergy abuse survivors at a "Special Mass.” He had this Mass while prosecuting a Sandy Springs clergy abuse survivor for trying to go to Mass at St. Jude's in Sandy Springs. The clergy abuse survivor was forced to represent himself against the State and the Church for two years. Bishop Gregory was terrified of facing a lawyer under oath. No help was ever given to the survivor. He was told any future attempt to seek spiritual counseling, take the sacraments, or attend Mass would result in his immediate arrest. 

Bishop Gregory has a firm policy of referring all clergy abuse survivors to his investigators. Once their investigation was complete, the Church refused to address the most critical issues in their world. The bishop is required by Georgia Law to report any allegations of child molestation by a member of the Diocese staff. In the second survivor case from St. Jude of Sandy Springs, no report was made to the Police and the perpetrator is still a danger in his community. His failure to help a homeless clergy abuse survivor was low class. His failure to report was criminal. The bishop continues to avoid the law and speaking to authorities under oath. He is using charitable donations to finance his legal efforts to avoid responsibility for children being raped. 

Bishop Gregory hosted a Bishop’s Conference in Atlanta. The topic was the state of the clergy abuse scandal. No one from the leadership of SNAP was offered an opportunity to represent our interests. SNAP President: Barbara Blaine was forced to stand outside the Hyatt Atlanta with pictures of clergy abuse survivors strewn across the sidewalk. Her strength of character in the face of this routine humiliation was inspiring. Ms. Blaine showed more strength of character and class than every clergy member visiting our city. 

John Dearing, as President of the Voice of the Faithful Atlanta, has stood by survivors over the past twelve years. He came to every trial date for Victim #1, and he worked to seek justice for Victim#2. Any suggestion that we do not have parishioner support is untrue. Our fellow Catholics have been appalled that generations of charitable donations were given to clergy rape victims. Compensating victims for the quantity and quality of sex given to our perpetrators is not the goal of every Catholic. It seems to be the only answer the lawyers could give the Church. A little respect and compassion could have easily avoided all the current misgivings the community has about the Catholic Church. 

The hired help at the Church has been raping children in masse. The hired help has hidden their rapists and they continue to hide them in plain sight. The hired help have destroyed the magnificent work of millions of Catholics to satisfy their need to rape children. It is time to take control of the future of the Church from the pews. It is time to start supervising Bishop Gregory. The Parishioners leading the millions of hours in service to the community need to save your missions from your employees.  

Bishop Gregory’s lifestyle was not a new problem. His lavish living took four years to build. The house needed modern furniture to make it regal enough for his highness. 

The “Finance” leaders of the Atlanta Diocese let an out-of-control employee raid a generous gift given to help the needy. I doubt the donor would have wanted his house demolished to make way for a bigger Mansion. Catholic parishioners need to start taking responsibility for the way the clergy abuse rape victims are treated. The same lack of supervision is not in keeping with most of our fellow Catholics. 

The Catholic Church’s efforts to distance survivors from our parishes is a pathetic way to abuse their rape victims. We have been forced to speak our minds in traditional and nontraditional activist efforts. We have used picketing, mailers, media assistance, and the strength of our fellow Catholics organized on our behalf. Our efforts have been centered on mutually acceptable goals. 

· Victims want to know that their perpetrators are no longer cruising for young children. We want to know that our rapists are no longer a threat to the children in the community. Catholic Bishops are currently responsible for supervising their rapists. Parishioners need to take responsibility for ensuring these rapists are known to the local police. 

· Victims must be able to access spiritual and professional counseling. The Church has total latitude over the needs of their victims. It seems like the organization hiding their perverts in plain sight cannot be making decisions about the type of help needed by their rape victims. 

· Clergy abuse victims will need help over the long term. The compassionate help we receive from Catholic Charities has been a blessing to many. A help line needs to be set up for victims of clergy abuse. This hot line must handle reporting abuse and assisting clergy abuse survivors. This hotline can be managed by SNAP on behalf of the Church. 

· The Catholic Leaders need to start supervising the process rape victims are facing in their journey. Each case is different, but they all have remarkably similar consequences. Clergy abuse survivors face addition, sexual dysfunction, poor job skills, no counseling, and homelessness. A clergy abuse survivor should not have to face their rapists through their lawyers. 

It is time for everyone to be treated with respect. Unfortunately, we feel the Church parishioners continue to struggle to meet the goals of the new Pontiff. It takes a real man to focus on working together with your embarrassments. We did not leave the Church; the Church is embarrassed by our presence. We put a human face to the clergy abuse victims of crime at our Parishes. We did not choose this role; it was forced on us by the tolerance for child molestation in the clergy ranks. It is time to listen to the victims of your rapists to assure yourselves the crime spree stops, and the victims are embraced by their fellow parishioners.