Harrisburg, Pa., Dec 4, 2018 / 12:19 pm
Citing due process, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Monday wrote that the names of 11 former and current priests in a grand jury report on allegations of clerical sexual abuse of minors are to remain permanently redacted.
The 11 names will be kept redacted as "the only viable due process remedy … to protect their constitutional rights to reputation," Justice Debra Todd wrote in the court's Dec. 3 majority opinion.
More than 300 priests were named in the report.
"We acknowledge that this outcome may be unsatisfying to the public and to the victims of the abuse detailed in the report. While we understand and empathize with these perspectives, constitutional rights are of the highest order, and even alleged sexual abusers, or those abetting them, are guaranteed by our Commonwealth's Constitution the right of due process."