Saturday, November 03, 2012

Ruling sends Milwaukee abuse cases ahead

A federal judge has dismissed one sex abuse claim against the Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee, but is allowing two other cases to proceed.
 
The ruling Monday by U.S. District Judge Rudolph Randa lets stand a February decision by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley allowing two other claims to move forward.

The three cases were seen as tests for the archdiocese, which argued claims against it could have been filed years earlier, and that some claimants had received prior settlements. 

A decision to dismiss all three cases would have allowed the archdiocese to remove most of the 574 sex abuse cases against it, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Tuesday, noting the ruling could be seen as a victory for both sides.

"We're saddened by the loss of one claim, but the others are alive and will require individual scrutiny," said Jeffrey Anderson, lawyer for 350 of the men and women who allege they were sexually assaulted as children by priests and other church employees, adding the claims could not be tossed out en masse.