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Connecticut High Court Orders Release of Documents In Clergy Abuse Cases

By Howard M. Friedman

In Rosado v. Bridgeport Roman Catholic Diocesan Corp., (Ct. Sup. Ct., May 22, 2009, official release date June 2), the Connecticut Supreme Court, over the dissent of Justice Sullivan, granted the requests of 4 newspapers and released some 12,600 pages of documents filed in 23 cases alleging sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clergy. According to a report on the case by The Day (New London, CT), the documents have been under seal since 2001 when the Diocese of Bridgeport settled the cases. The court held that all documents filed with the court that it could reasonably rely on in support of its adjudicatory function are presumptively open to the public. (Under this rule, only 15 documents in the cases could be kept sealed.) The court also held that the trial court judge properly refused to recuse himself in the case seeking release of the documents. (See prior related posting.)

Full post as published by Religion Clause on May 24, 2009 (boomark / email).