The U.S. Supreme Court has been asked to weigh in on a dispute over whether the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee may shield a $55 million cemetery maintenance trust from hundreds of alleged clergy sexual-abuse victims seeking compensation, the Wall Street Journal reported today. A lawyer for the cemetery trust said yesterday that the trust filed a petition asking the Supreme Court for a final ruling on the fate of the cemetery funds. The move aims to appeal a March ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit that a trust created to maintain the Archdiocese of Milwaukee’s cemeteries isn’t subject to federal laws protecting religious freedoms. If the Seventh Circuit’s ruling stands, it could help more than 500 victims of alleged sexual abuse by the archdiocese’s clergy argue that the funds should be included in the compensation they will receive as part of the archdiocese’s long-running bankruptcy. Throughout the bankruptcy, the archdiocese has argued that being forced to compensate victims with funds designated for its cemeteries would violate federal laws protecting its free exercise of religion. Victims have argued those laws don’t apply and have accused the archdiocese of funneling money to the trust to keep it out of their reach.
For more on litigation trusts, be sure to pick up a copy of ABI’s A Practitioner's Guide to Liquidation and Litigation Trusts.
