The Clergy Sex Abuse Crisis and the Legal Responses

James T. O'Reilly is a Professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Law. He was President of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council under Archbishop (later Cardinal) Joseph Bernardin. He has served as a state police officer, taught criminal law and published several books on criminal investigatory procedure. His legal article on church accountability was accepted by state appeals courts in several states. He is co-author of Punishing Corporate Crime: Legal Penalties for Criminal and Regulatory Violations (Oxford University Press, 2009). Margaret S. P. Chalmers has worked for many years in canon law, and as a civil attorney. She worked for the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama for ten years, and has been an adjunct professor in the Honors College at the University of Alabama. She is currently the Chancellor of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, as well as being in canonical practice with Canon Law Professionals. She is a member of the Canon Law Society of America as well as a member of the Alabama State Bar. Her articles have been published in both Studia Canonica and CLSA Proceedings.

Preface ; PART I: CONTEXT & BACKGROUND ; Chapter 1 Introduction to a Complex Problem ; Chapter 2 Understanding the Patterns of Clergy Abuse Litigation ; PART II: CIVIL LITIGATION ; Chapter 3 Civil Litigation Against Catholic Dioceses, Parishes and Priests ; Chapter 4 Participants in the Clergy Abuse Case ; PART III: HANDLING ABUSE CLAIMS ; Chapter 5 Delays & Limitations in Clergy Abuse Claims ; PART IV: OTHER RELATED ISSUES ; Chapter 6 Effects of Criminal Charges & Plea Agreements ; Chapter 7 Church Insurance & Abuse Claims ; Chapter 8 Constitutional Issues ; Chapter 9 Bankruptcy Issues ; Chapter 10 Mandated Abuse Reporting Issues ; Chapter 11 Evidence Privileges & Clergy Abuse Issues ; Chapter 12 Repressed Memory Inducement Cases ; Chapter 13 Fraud and Nondisclosure in the Assignment of Clergy ; Chapter 14 Defenses & Claims of Immunity ; Chapter 15 Damages Issues ; Chapter 16 Fiscal Impacts of Abuse Cases on the U.S. Catholic Church ; Chapter 17 Impact of Abuse Cases on External Relations of the Catholic Church ; Chapter 18 Responses Vary Inside & Outside the United States ; Chapter 19 The Church's Internal Big Picture - Governance and Law ; Chapter 20 How Episcopal Culture Contributed to Administrative Failure ; Chapter 21 The Development of the Problem: 1950 to 2002 ; Chapter 22 The Perfect Storm in Canon Law: What Went Wrong ; Chapter 23 2002 and Beyond ; Chapter 24 The Particular Issues of Religious Communities ; Chapter 25 The Investigation and Pretrial Canonical Process ; Chapter 26 The Accuser and The Canonical Process ; Chapter 27 Canonical Penal Trials and Outcomes ; Chapter 28 Limitations and Weaknesses in the Canonical Penal System ; Chapter 29 Clergy Abuse Issues in Non-Roman Catholic Denominations ; Chronology ; Bibliography ; Index