Church seeks First Amendment protection from sex-abuse lawsuits
By The Associated Press
12.24.02
BOSTON — The Boston Archdiocese asked a judge yesterday to dismiss the hundreds of sexual-abuse lawsuits against the church on freedom-of-religion grounds. But the archdiocese said it is still committed to reaching a settlement.
The archdiocese said it made the dismissal request to satisfy its insurers that it has employed all possible legal defenses.
“Failure to do this could very well result in the insurance companies walking away from us, saying that we have not exercised all of our avenues of defense,” said Bishop Richard G. Lennon, who was named interim head of the fourth-largest U.S. archdiocese on Dec. 13.
In court papers, the archdiocese argued that under the Constitution’s First Amendment guarantee of freedom of religion, civil law does not apply to how religious organizations supervise their personnel.
The argument was filed with Superior Court Judge Constance Sweeney even as Lennon renewed his request that all legal maneuvering in the lawsuits be suspended so that settlement talks could be intensified.
Jeffrey Newman, whose firm represents about 200 alleged victims, said he believes the archdiocese remains sincere in its efforts to move toward a settlement of the more than 400 lawsuits filed over child-molesting priests.
A law firm advising the archdiocese has concluded that the church has at least $90 million available for a settlement, most of it through coverage provided by two insurance companies, Travelers and Kemper.
Archdiocese spokeswoman Donna Morrissey said the archdiocese “believed in the argument” it filed with the court, but is still committed to reaching a settlement.
The move comes days after plaintiffs’ attorneys submitted estimates of how much they want the archdiocese to pay their clients. The estimate has not been made public, and the archdiocese has until mid-January to respond.
Massachusetts judges have already rejected previous arguments by the archdiocese that the church’s activities are immune from judicial scrutiny, and lawyers questioned the archdiocese’s chances of success this time.
“Will it be successful? Probably not,” Newman said. “But do they have to comply with the terms of the contract in order to obtain money from the insurance contract? Yes. So they’re in a Catch-22. Our belief is that Lennon is doing what he’s promising, that he’s committed to resolving the cases.”