Catholic church tries silencing victims with lawyers

[gyeonghwa]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/13/us/catholic-church-pressures-victims-network-with-subpoenas.html

Turning the tables on an advocacy group that has long supported victims of pedophile priests, lawyers for the Roman Catholic Church and priests accused of sexual abuse in two Missouri cases have gone to court to compel the group to disclose more than two decades of e-mails that could include correspondence with victims, lawyers, whistle-blowers, witnesses, the police, prosecutors and journalists.

The group, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, is neither a plaintiff nor a defendant in the litigation. But the group has been subpoenaed five times in recent months in Kansas City and St. Louis, and its national director, David Clohessy, was questioned by a battery of lawyers for more than six hours this year. A judge in Kansas City ruled that the network must comply because it “almost certainly” had information relevant to the case.

The network and its allies say the legal action is part of a campaign by the church to cripple an organization that has been the most visible defender of victims, and a relentless adversary, for more than two decades. “If there is one group that the higher-ups, the bishops, would like to see silenced,” said Marci A. Hamilton, a law professor at Yeshiva University and an advocate for victims of clergy sex crimes, “it definitely would be SNAP. And that’s what they’re going after. They’re trying to find a way to silence SNAP.”

Because fuck the abuse and rape victims, the Church needs to be protect. 

And of course Bill Donohue aka Catholic McDouchebag is behind this:

Lawyers for the church and priests say they cannot comment because of a judge’s order. But William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, a church advocacy group in New York, said targeting the network was justified because “SNAP is a menace to the Catholic Church.”

Mr. Donohue said leading bishops he knew had resolved to fight back more aggressively against the group: “The bishops have come together collectively. I can’t give you the names, but there’s a growing consensus on the part of the bishops that they had better toughen up and go out and buy some good lawyers to get tough. We don’t need altar boys.”

[TenfoldMaquette]

Lawyers for the church and priests say they cannot comment because of a judge’s order. But William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, a church advocacy group in New York, said targeting the network was justified because “SNAP is a menace to the Catholic Church.”

Good. They need menacing right now. They wouldn't do the right thing on their own, or even when compelled by law.

Mr. Donohue said leading bishops he knew had resolved to fight back more aggressively against the group: “The bishops have come together collectively. I can’t give you the names, but there’s a growing consensus on the part of the bishops that they had better toughen up and go out and buy some good lawyers to get tough. We don’t need altar boys.”

Is this a massive non-sequitur or am I missing something? O_o;

[gyeonghwa]

Lawyers for the church and priests say they cannot comment because of a judge’s order. But William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, a church advocacy group in New York, said targeting the network was justified because “SNAP is a menace to the Catholic Church.”

Good. They need menacing right now. They wouldn't do the right thing on their own, or even when compelled by law.

Mr. Donohue said leading bishops he knew had resolved to fight back more aggressively against the group: “The bishops have come together collectively. I can’t give you the names, but there’s a growing consensus on the part of the bishops that they had better toughen up and go out and buy some good lawyers to get tough. We don’t need altar boys.”

Is this a massive non-sequitur or am I missing something? O_o;

When has Donohue ever made sense?

[ironbite]

Wow...way to get the public at large on your side by going after a victim advocacy group.

Ironbite-idiots.

[Cerim Treascair]

This totally won't end badly for the RCC...

[Old Viking]

Good churches need good lawyers.

[MadCatTLX]

This totally won't end badly for the RCC...

Let it be known that I want the worst for them.

[N. De Plume]

A judge in Kansas City ruled that the network must comply because it “almost certainly” had information relevant to the case.

Relevant or not, isn’t the type of information they have typically protected by some sort of confidentiality statute?

Mr. Donohue said leading bishops he knew had resolved to fight back more aggressively against the group: “The bishops have come together collectively. I can’t give you the names, but there’s a growing consensus on the part of the bishops that they had better toughen up and go out and buy some good lawyers to get tough. We don’t need altar boys.”

Wait a minute, this guy is on the church’s side, and he is making altar boy cracks? Wow. Way to show some sensitivity.

[Sylvana]

I am confused. The group against the Catholic church is being ordered in court to reveal information and emails about catholic sexual abuse, and this is somehow going to protect the catholic church and harm the organization? To me the disclosure of this information should make the case against the catholic priests stronger. I am surely misunderstanding something.

[Jack Mann]

I am confused. The group against the Catholic church is being ordered in court to reveal information and emails about catholic sexual abuse, and this is somehow going to protect the catholic church and harm the organization? To me the disclosure of this information should make the case against the catholic priests stronger. I am surely misunderstanding something.

A lot of people go to SNAP with the understanding that what they say won't be publicly revealed, because it's just too painful for them to face that way.  The RCC wants to make sure that people don't feel safe going to SNAP, and hopefully drive more people back into complete silence.

[Witchyjoshy]

Essentially, slut-shaming the abuse victims.

[largeham]

This totally won't end badly for the RCC...

Let it be known that I want the worst for them.

I too.

[D Laurier]

Can we just abolish the catholic church now, and turn the vatican into a nice green park

[RavynousHunter]

Failing that, we could just invade and take back the massive trove of historical artifacts for the general public to have access to.  Failing THAT, we could just turn it into molten slag.

[Witchyjoshy]

What about the huge hoard of money they have that would make a dragon aghast at their greed?