A novel ruling from the Arizona Supreme Court gives internal religious arbitration radical power.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, or colloquially, the Mormons, are able to not answer any questions or turn over state documents when it comes to sex abuse charges. This is because of a state law that exempts religious leaders from reporting about sex abuse if they hear of in a confessional. Because it’s technically a private setting, the court rules, they’d be exempt from sharing relevant information if told in that circumstance.
This stems after two potential sex abuse victims filed a lawsuit against two of their LDS bishops. They single out one bishop, Paul Adams, for abusing his under age daughter, as well as a number of church members. AZ Central issued a bombshell report saying a number of LDS clergy members knew about the abuse, and failed to report it.
So the victim took the lawsuit up to the courts, saying that this negligence allowed for Adams to abuse more children for over a decade.
The LDS church, in response, seemed to shrug the whole thing off, saying, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints agrees with the Arizona Supreme Court’s decision. We are deeply saddened by the abuse these children suffered. The Church has no tolerance of abuse of any kind.”
But note, however, that they didn’t mention any internal nor external actions to take to listen to or get justice for victims of sex abuse in the future
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