US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg has denied a request by the Diocese of Bridgeport to keep court files on clergy sex abuse cases sealed until the court decides whether to take up their case in the fall.Ginsberg verbally notified attorneys in the case of her decision late Tuesday, the Hartford Courant reports.
The diocese's attorney, Ralph W. Johnson III, said church officials will now decide whether to ask the full nine-member court to keep the stay in place.
The diocese is trying to keep sealed more than 12,600 pages of depositions, exhibits and legal arguments involving 23 lawsuits against seven priests from the Bridgeport diocese.
Most of the lawsuits were filed in the mid-1990s. The lawsuits were settled in 2001 by the church for undisclosed amounts with the agreement that the settlements and the documents would remain sealed forever.
Four newspapers, including The Courant, filed a lawsuit to have the documents unsealed in 2002 when it was discovered they had not been destroyed by the judicial department.
The documents could provide details on how retired New York Cardinal Edward Egan handled the allegations when he was bishop in Bridgeport, E Taiwan News adds.
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