AmericanPapist Comments
I am not sure if this settlement includes the additional suits that could arise from the special suspension of the statutes of limitations that the California legislature made. The problem with this kind of special action is that it seems to target private groups such as the Church but exempts public institutions such as the public schools.
At any rate, it seems like everything in California is quite expensive; over the top expensive.
At any rate, hopefully all will be well in the archdiocese of Los Angeles.
What percentage of that settlement is for attorney's fees? While the victims deserve all the help they can get, those attorneys are making off like bandits.
The Cardinal Archbishop of LA reminds me of another Cardinal Archbishop from the 17th century, Richelieu of Paris --- a man who forged alliances with protestants to beat off the Catholic forces during the 30 year war. Folks, the fact that Mahoney retains his job after this immense debacle, is all about political power . . . and money. Is the Holy Father afraid to mess with this man? Or not?
I'm surprised, given the fairly rapid demise of Cardinal Law of Boston that Cardinal Mahony is not also winging his way to Rome. Could it be that because Mahony is liberal and Law conservative, that the US Press is reluctant to persecute their fellow traveler, Mahony? Inquiring minds want to know. Tom
Didn't most of these events occur long before Cardinal Mahony was appointed?
Johnathon,
Typically lawyers get one third on contingency. To be fair to them, that will pay for all the paralegals, secretaries, etc. that they've made use of in building this case over several years. So lots of people are putting bread on their table because of it.
But it breaks down like this:
500 plaintiffs in the class
$660 MM
= $ 1.320 M per plaintiff
One-third to lawyers: $436 thousand
One-third of the gross to Uncle Sam: $436 thousand
That leaves each plaintiff with about $ 436 thousand, plus whatever continuing commitments (counseling, etc.) the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to in the settlement.
I may be wrong on the tax implications, but I recall one of my law professors pointing out that Uncle Sam takes his pound of flesh from the gross award, not the award net of lawyer's fees. That's part of why many government officials are so keen on the use of class actions to redistribute wealth.
I don't think this was a class action . . I suspect that there were individual named plaintiffs, rather than a class.
Yes, Cardinal Mahony is a Richelieu wanabee and God will hold him accountable for all he has done. However, let us not absolve the lawyers. Daniel Lyons wrote an article in Forbes how some of them get reffered to each case. They pay certain groups a donation and those groups refer the attorney's to the victims. The legal term is solicitation.
The article Daniel Lyons wrote is on the following link. It is entitled Sex, God and Greed.
http://members.forbes.com/forbes...3/0609/
066.html
I have mixed feeling about the whole thing. I hope the people who are getting the money are indeed victims who were indeed hurt, and not life-long homosexual rip-off artists. I am not from California and even though I am 58 years old and a life long Catholic, I have never seen any instance of clergy sex abuse myself, only read about it. And yes, Cardinal Mahoney seems to get a pass from the media on this. In both the cases of Cardinals Law and Mahoney, the problems were partly inherited. It will take both society and the Church several more decades to put the 1960's and 1970's in perspective, and the changes that took place then.
Another thing, seems like dioceses in California and Massachusetts account for over 50% of the entire cost of this litigation so far. That should tell us something.
Plaintiffs' counsel typically get 40% of settlements such as this, so their take home pay is $264,000,000. Not bad for four years' work without having to engage in massive discovery or putting any of the cases actually before a jury.
If a settlement is characterized as damages paid for personal or physical injuries to the "victim"/plaintiff, the amount is not taxed.
It's an awful lot of what my contracts professor called "green poultice" to deal with whatever wounds were inflicted. Let's hope that those who were genuine victims are now satisfied and those whose claims are bogus (and there most certainly are such among the 500 claimants), will get their just reward someday.
Cardinal Mahony quite rightly put up a defense -- unlike other bishops who basically let the plaintiffs' attorneys roll right over them, and who in the course of doing so helped create very bad legal precedents that will have repercussions far outside the Church.
If I lived in the L.A. Diocese I would not give a penny to it. I would withhold all contributions when the basket comes around during mass.
Instead, donate money to EWTN, Dominican Sisters in Ann Arbor, Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles in Kansas City, any orthodox group.
Cardinal Mahony, by his liberal leadership and his lack of assertion of many Catholic doctrines, ultimately is the cause of the scandal. Maybe when the money stops flowing in, he will lose his job.
when I see numbers like this I wish I was didtled so as to be compensated 1.3 millon. Something is seriously wrong in the American Justice system to dictate settlements of this amount
Gabe-if I lived in LA I would do the same thing you said, withhold my contributions. And instead I'd send them to the orthodox groups you mentioned.
If Mother Angelica could speak, I wonder what she would have said about all this, considering her 'history' with Mahoney?
Thanks for the clarification, rcesq.
Thomas, no you wouldn't want to be "dittled" for any amount of money. I was always shocked by much of the heirarchy's reaction to the abuse. If they had thrown the bums out, they would have been cheered by their flocks and the money would have flowed into the Church's coffers rather than out of them. If they had simply practiced what they preached - protect the lowly. Sad, very sad, and totally avoidable (from a legal standpoint). Tom
I don't understand how Cardinal Mahony could be the "cause" of the scandal, when most of the misconduct undoubtedly occurred well before he was appointed.
Many of these cases go back 20 years or more.
If you've decided to punish the Diocese by withholding your contributions, you should give some thought to the impact upon the great priests and religious who are currently serving . . . you should also think about withholding your local school taxes, since there is an equally high (if not higher) rate of child molestation among teachers as there is among clergy.
until the philosphy
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