World News | Judge upholds Catholic bankruptcy despite church donations

NEW ORLEANS (United States), April 22 (AP) – A federal judge on Friday declined to recuse himself from a New Orleans Roman Catholic bankruptcy case after The Associated Press reported that he donated tens of thousands of dollars to charities in the archdiocese and Has ruled in favor of the church in a controversial case involving nearly 500 victims of clergy sex abuse.

U.S. District Judge Greg Guidry told attorneys in the high-profile case that a panel of federal judges he asked to review a possible conflict determined that despite his contributions and longstanding ties to the archdiocese, the No “reasonable person” would question his impartiality.

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Guidry read out the opinion of the Washington-based Code of Conduct Committee, which stated that any of the charities he donated to the bankruptcy “was not or is an actual party” and that Guidry served on the archdiocese’s charity board for eight years. Arm ended more than a decade before going bankrupt.

“Based on this advice, and based on my belief that I can be fair and impartial, I have decided not to recuse myself,” said Gudry, who oversaw the bankruptcy on appeal.

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Guidry’s statement came hours after the AP’s report, and more than a week after Guidry confronted him about the findings.

Several ethics experts told The Associated Press that the 62-year-old jurist should withdraw from the case to avoid conflict, even though it could overwhelm the complex, three-year trial with a series of new hearings and his appeals. The bankruptcy case was in turmoil. Decide.

“It messes up every decision he makes and raises doubts,” said Keith Swisher, a professor of legal ethics at the University of Arizona, who described the judge’s donation as “not so much a Smoke, rather than fire.”

The Associated Press’ coverage of Guidry and other judges in the New Orleans bankruptcy case underscored the church’s tight ties in the city’s power structure, as executives with the NFL’s New Orleans Saints grapple with its clergy abuse crisis.

It also comes at a worrying time, with bankruptcy lawyers trying to unseal thousands of secret church documents resulting from the lawsuit and the FBI’s ongoing investigation into decades-old clergy abuse in New Orleans. investigation. Guidry has denied at least one request to unseal some documents.

An Associated Press review of campaign finance records found that since being nominated to a federal judgeship by then-President Donald Trump in 2019, Guidry had donated to local courts from leftover donations he received after serving 10 years on the Louisiana Supreme Court. Catholic Charities donated nearly $50,000 for justice.

Most of the donations, $36,000 of them, came in the months after the archdiocese sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May 2020 amid a series of sexual abuse lawsuits. These included a $12,000 donation to the Archdiocese’s Catholic Community Foundation in September 2020 on the same day as a series of bankruptcy filings, and a $14,000 donation to the same charity the following July.

But the advisory Guidry cited on Friday noted that his donations to Catholic charities amounted to less than 25 per cent of the campaign money he could donate. It also said that “mere participation as a faithful participant in the life of your diocese and the archdiocese of which it is a member cannot be a reasonable basis for challenging the impartiality of proceedings involving the Church.”

Guidry’s philanthropy over the years also appears to have included private donations. In 2017, a newsletter issued by Catholic Charities of New Orleans, the archdiocese’s charity, recognized Guidry and his wife as among its undisclosed donors and listed the judge and his campaign.

The judge previously provided pro bono services and served on the board of Catholic Charities from 2000 to 2008, when the archdiocese was dealing with an earlier wave of sex abuse lawsuits. Catholic charities are involved in at least one multimillion-dollar settlement for victims of beating and sexual abuse at two local orphanages.

Within a year of his latest contribution, Guidry began issuing rulings that changed the momentum of the bankruptcy and benefited the Archdiocese.

Guidry supported the removal of several members from the victims’ committee seeking compensation from the church. The plaintiffs have repeatedly complained about the lack of transparency in the case, arguing that the archdiocese’s main reason for seeking legal protection is to minimize expenses.

The archdiocese is seeking bankruptcy despite having “significant financial reserves, disposable cash and investments of more than $160 million,” Moody’s rating agency found.

Just last month, Guidry confirmed a $400,000 sanction against Richard Trahant, a veteran attorney for victims of clergy abuse, accused of violating a sweeping nondisclosure order when he warned a local principal of his The school hired a priest who admitted to sexual abuse.

Trahante, who has emerged as the archdiocese’s arch-rival, declined to comment, calling attention to what he called a conspiracy by top New Orleans church officials to cover up clergy abuse.

Guidry’s generous donations and close ties to the church are clearly reasons to question his ability as an impartial judge, said Charles Geher, a professor at Indiana University who studies judicial ethics.

“Not only has this judge made significant financial contributions to churches whose archdiocese is a party to the proceedings before him, but these contributions are inextricably linked to his status as a judge,” Geyh said.

“The judge’s choice to donate the overflow of his campaign funds to prolong his career as a judge to promote his religious life in the church implies that in the judge’s mind there is a connection between his religious identity and his professional identity. “

In heavily Catholic New Orleans, Guidry is far from the only federal judge with longstanding ties to the archdiocese. Several of Guidry’s associates have recused themselves from bankruptcy or related litigation. They include U.S. District Judge Wendy Vitter, who for years served as the archdiocese’s general counsel and defended the church from a string of sex scandals before Trump nominated her to a federal judgeship in 2018. abuse allegations. Another federal judge, Ivan Lemelle, serves on the board of the Catholic Community Foundation.

Another U.S. District Judge, Jay Zani, recused himself from bankruptcy-related proceedings after publicly acknowledging his role in New Orleans Saints executives’ behind-the-scenes media relations efforts for the Archdiocese in 2018 and 2019. case. At the time, Zainey told The Times-Picayune that he would recuse himself from future church-related cases.

But less than a year ago, Zani quietly overturned a Louisiana law, strongly opposed by the archdiocese, that created a so-called lookback window that would allow victims of sexual abuse to sue churches and others institutions, no matter how long ago the alleged abuse occurred. Zani did not respond to a request for comment.

“These federal judges are very active in different sectors throughout the archdiocese,” said James Adams, former president of the Catholic Community Foundation, who was abused by a priest in 1980 as a fifth-grader. “I’m not saying they don’t do good, but when they have a case involving the Archdiocese of New Orleans, it certainly raises eyebrows.”

Jason Berry, author of several books on clergy abuse and most recently a history of New Orleans, said the church’s influence on the city’s court system “stinks smell”.

“The bigger question here is whether justice has been compromised,” he said. “You’re talking about 500 people’s lives being robbed, and that’s something that many don’t understand.” ___ Contact the Associated Press’ Global Investigative Team at Investigative@ap.org. (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)