Jeff Anderson Loses a Big One

Reporter Emily Gurnon at the St. Paul Pioneer Press relates the rare loss by Attorney Jeff Anderson in a decision of the Minnesota Court of Appeals holding that the silence of the New Ulm Diocese does not constitute "fraud."  The court dismissed the lawsuit of four local victims of clergy sex abuse. This is Miss Gurnon's story:

"Four women [represented by famed St. Palu lawyer, Jeff Anderson] who alleged that a now-dead priest sexually abused them as children had their lawsuit thrown out by the state Court of Appeals on Tuesday.

The court ruled that the New Ulm Diocese's silence on the Rev. David Roney's abusive behavior did not constitute fraud because the diocese did not 'suppress'  facts that it was under a legal obligation to disclose, a three-judge panel wrote.  There may be circumstances where a legal obligation to disclose the information existed, but the plaintiffs did not allege that, the court wrote.   '(The) appellants do not assert that respondents had a duty to disclose Father Roney's sexual-abuse history,' Judge Michelle Larkin wrote for the panel.

William Mitchell College of Law professor Michael Steenson said, 'Our (state) precedent dictates that there is no duty to disclose under these circumstances.' He added that "moral obligations and legal obligations are not the same.'

Larkin wrote, 'In this case, there is no evidence that respondents (the New Ulm Diocese) made affirmative misrepresentations separate and distinct from their nondisclosure or took active steps to conceal the abuse. The women have too broadly stated their fraud theory.'

The opinion said that, 'while we are sympathetic to victims of sexual abuse and recognize that appellants' claim involves allegations of inexcusable child abuse perpetrated by an adult in a position of trust, we are bound to follow existing law.'  The judges agreed with the diocese that, had the court ruled the other way, it would "greatly expand the scope of potential liability for fraud claims.'

The decision could affect other cases that allege fraud against dioceses that employed priests accused of sexual misconduct.

Mike Finnegan of Jeff Anderson & Associates, who represented the plaintiffs, said the ruling is not good for the women.   'This decision is definitely sad for these four women, and my heart goes out to them that, at least as of right now, we don't have any way to go forward,' Finnegan said. 'But the decision, overall, leaves a lot of hope for all the other survivors who have been lied to and misled, not only by the diocese here, but also by other organizations that are supposed to protect kids.'

Finnegan noted that the decision favored the women's claim that they filed their lawsuit within the statute of limitations.   'If you're deceived or lied to and you recently learned about that, you may have the ability to seek justice,'  he said.

Roney served at two parishes in the 1960s and 1970s: St. Francis in Benson and St. Mary's in Willmar.   The women, who were identified as Jane Does 43C, 43E, 43F and 43G, alleged that they were sexually abused by Roney at those churches. Parents and one plaintiff herself, when she was an adult, complained to church officials, but Roney was reassigned.  He died in 2003 at the Diocese of New Ulm's mission in Guatemala.  After Roney died, the diocese publicly acknowledged that he had sexually abused children.

Msgr. Douglas Grams of the diocese said in a statement Tuesday that the court 'made the right decision in determining that there was no basis for plaintiffs to make any claim of fraud against the diocese of New Ulm.'  He added that the diocese 'in no way' condones sexual abuse and expresses deep sympathies for any victims."
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The work of Jeff Anderson and lawyers associated with him, changed the way the world looks at the Catholic Church and clergy sex abuse.  What he has accomplished is amazing, but these occasional losses reminds us of how far we've come in 20 years.  The losses were the rule 20 years ago, not the exception.

Depose the Pope!

Let's see it was all of June 28th that I predicted that in the wake of the Supreme Court's refusal to hear the Vatican's appeal in Doe v. Holy See that Jeff Anderson would seek to depose the Pope, over the weekend the LA Times reported that Jeff Anderson has announced that at the first opportunity he will seek to depose, Guess Who? 

Under the caption, Pope Benedict to be Deposed, the American Catholic reports:

"The most evil inspired man in the world, attorney Jeffrey Anderson, plans to 'sue the sh-t out of [the Catholic Church] everywhere'. Because the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from the Vatican, a court case will move forward allowing for the Vatican to be sued.


'I have known for 25 years that all roads lead to Rome,' said Jeff Anderson, the Minnesota attorney who represents the plaintiff. 'This is the beginning for us of a new journey, a uniquely difficult odyssey.'Anderson, who has represented hundreds of abuse victims and has tried for years to sue the Vatican, said he hoped to persuade a judge that he should be allowed to depose Vatican officials.

Jeffrey Lena, the American attorney for the Holy See, argued the Vatican is not responsible for individual priests in dioceses, saying the existence of the priest in the case 'was unknown to the Holy See until after all the events in question.'

The original lawsuit, John V. Doe v. Holy See, was filed in 2002 by a Seattle-area man who said the Rev. Andrew Ronan repeatedly molested him in the late 1960s.

'The Holy See does not pay the salary of the priest, or benefits of the priest, or exercise day-to-day control over the priest, and any of the other factors indicating the presence of an employment relationship,' Lena said.

Saint Paul, Minnesota attorney Jeffrey Anderson also added that he will depose Pope Benedict once the opportunity presents itself."
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Shows precisely where the editors of American Catholic come down on values. It's not the sexual predators, it's an American civil lawyer who has spent the better part of his working life holding sexual predators accountable that is "the most evil inspired man in the world."  You would have thought maybe Adolph Hitler or Pol Pot would have headed the list before Jeffrey Anderson.

Jeffrey Anderson slept in my house, and borrowed some of my athletic clothes to go for a run--not once did I denote any sign of evil.  In fact the garment that he borrowed laundered up, real nice without any sign of Satanic staining. 

In all seriousness, Jeffrey Anderson is a fine lawyer and a great man.  I hope he accomplishes the goal of deposing the Pope Benedict, and that henceforth, the Church remembers that it can not without consequence enable then turn a blind eye to child sex abuse by priests. 

Doe v. Holy See, Goes Forward

On the last day of the term, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the appeal of the Holy See (the Vatican, the Holy Roman Catholic Church) seeking dismissal from a child sex abuse suit as a Sovereign Power--an argument I discussed in the first days of this "blawg."  This is a good development in the evolution of the Rule of Law.  Expect St. Paul clergy sex abuse lawyer, Jeff Anderson to seek the Pope's deposition in coming months and the hysterical arguments over those discovery efforts.  At the link you can read the Chicago Sun Times' background story on the case that was filed more than 8 years ago!

Look at Kiddie Porn, Jeff Anderson Will Sue You!

The great Jeff Anderson, clergy sex abuse attorney par excellence is threatening to use a new federal statute--Masha's law, to go after you if you are looking at child porn according to a report at the Pioneer Press website.  This is an excerpt from the report by Emily Gurnon:

"A St. Paul attorney has vowed to track down and expose people who so much as open a computer file with child pornography as part of a new initiative designed to stop the sexual exploitation of children at its source. Jeff Anderson said he filed a civil suit in U.S. District Court this morning against former St. Paul schoolteacher and foster parent Gregg Alan Larsen and 100 as-yet-unnamed child pornography downloaders. Larsen, 49, of Minneapolis was indicted May 19 and charged with production, distribution and possession of child porn.

'If you choose to download images of child pornography, we will find you, we will track you and we will expose you,' Anderson said.

[Anderson] said his office is working with police, specifically the Minnesota Internet Crimes Against Children task force, to trail the digital footprints of downloaded material — whether it is viewed on a computer or a phone. He promised to send out press releases as the names of offenders who view and trade images are revealed and add their names to the lawsuit."
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People curious about this evil garbage need to know that the digital fingerprint of this stuff can not be scrubbed from their hard drives.  Worse, once seen it can not be unseen.  As I said I bumped into some of these images as part of child sex abuse civil prosecutions in police files.  Child porn is sick, disturbing, and soul destroying.  Never forget the face of Sean O'Toole, an attorney, who killed himself when Sean came to recognize who he became and what he contributed to when he downloaded kiddie porn.

Jeff Anderson--A Great Lawyer

Here is the link to the profile of St. Paul, Minnesota legal warrior, Jeff Anderson that ran over the weekend in the Washington Post.  I had the honor of working with Jeff on several matters at a couple different junctures in the history of the priest-child sex abuse scandal.  Jeff is a profoundly committed and courageos advocate.  The reform of the Catholic Church in the WORLD would not be where it is but for Jeff's generosity, time, intellect, and insights--particularly as it relates to the posturing of the narrative.

Jeff's great insight, in my opinion, is that priestly sex abuse isn't about whether a priest committed a crime--it is about the aftermath of crime--the victims.  At every opportunity, Jeff shines the light on the victims and Jeff dares the Church and the courts to turn their eyes away from the survivors of priestly crimes. This morning as I shaved I listened to the BBC discuss his lawsuit against the Pope.  In fact he's been in the United States Supreme Court over the last year challenging the Holy See on jurisdiction in American courts.  So Jeff Anderson has always been more than a show horse--he's a role model and a work house, doing the heavy lifting because Jeff genuinely cares.

Jeff Anderson is a great lawyer.

P.S. If you haven't already don't forget to look at the Bad Lawyer post on Father Gilbert Gauther, who was released from a Galveston Jail this week.