September 2, 2009

US Supreme Court rules Bridgeport Diocese must release sealed abuse records

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (CNS)—Officials from the Diocese of Bridgeport said they were disappointed with an Aug. 25 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court saying documents from settled abuse cases should not remain sealed.

After the ruling, made by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the diocese posted a statement on its Web site saying it intends to “ask the full U.S. Supreme Court to review the important constitutional issues that this case presents.” Ginsburg told attorneys in the case, Rosado v. the Bridgeport Roman Catholic Diocesan Corp., Aug. 25 that she was denying the diocese’s request that the documents remain sealed until the high court decides whether to take up the case in the fall.

Each of the justices on the Supreme Court has responsibility for a region of the country and can issue a ruling in cases on an emergency basis.

The diocese wants to keep sealed more than 12,000 pages of depositions, exhibits and legal arguments in 23 lawsuits involving six priests from the Bridgeport Diocese.

Most of the lawsuits were filed in the mid-1990s and they were settled in 2001 by the diocese for undisclosed amounts with the agreement that the settlements and the documents would remain sealed.