Arizona court upholds clergy privilege in child abuse case

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The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can refuse to answer questions or turn over documents under a state law.

FILE - The Salt Lake Temple stands at Temple Square in Salt Lake City on Oct. 5, 2019. In a ruling made public Tuesday, April 11, 2023, the Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can refuse to answer questions or turn over documents under a state law that exempts religious officials from having to report child sex abuse if they learn of the crime during a confessional setting.

The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can refuse to answer questions or turn over documents under a state law that exempts religious officials from having to report child sex abuse if they learn of the crime during a confessional setting. The ruling was issued April 7 but not released to the public until Tuesday. A lawsuit filed by child sex abuse victims accuses the church, widely known as the Mormon church, two of its bishops, and other church members of conspiracy and negligence in not reporting church member

 

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Wth are you “defender of the family, save the children” people on this?! MattWalshBlog RealCandaceO GOP ?!

Institutionalized rape and pedophilia over there at the Mormon church

NotADragQueen

Religion is the ultimate get out of jail for child rape free card

Insanity

elonmusk Twitter needs dislike angry 😡 buttons

“The church does not tolerate abuse of any kind.” Then why don’t you voluntarily do what the law doesn’t require?

...jesus fucking christ

Not a drag queen. Not trans people.

Until the Republican Party cuts all ties with the Mormon church and it’s deviant and devil like members and their dirty money they have no credibility on protecting children.

wcsek Depraved.

🤨

Well done. Predators protected👍🏼

It's almost like... they can get away with it just for being a church.

Everyone of those Justices on the AZ Supreme Court is a republican. So of course they are going to defend and support an evil monster who abuses kids and infants. If you want to protect your kids vote out republicans.

The outrage over this is hilarious. If the LDS church had to, then so should the Catholic church

They stick their noses in politics but refuse to notify the proper authorities when it comes to child abuse. That is right up their alley as the religious sect is known for abusing kids themselves. I am beginning to think that the evil that walks among us is the religious sect.

sure why not

I blame the parents too for bringing their children up in such a sick place!

I’m sure MattWalshBlog and benshapiro will have a lot to say about this 🙄

It's a cult.

If you've already been forgiven by the Church for crimes against humanity, there is no point in involving the cops. PTSD grows exponentially under religion.

Obviously one of the reasons America is still lacking progress advancing along with other first world nations. The law never applies to everyone as equals. We are fragmented and convinced this is right. Do we have a conscience?

Hit them with a civil suit do they can plead the Fifth and get taken out of the equation. If they can lie for their God - then it is not a God worth having.

Now the court is part of the cover up

America is a failed state

catintheHague The irony of giving clergy rights to privacy on sexual abuse matters.

Fucking disgusting

We used to live next door to an LDS church. One couple starved one of their children to death.

Clergy privilege is a net benefit to victims. Removing it removes the only avenue abusers might seek to get help, pushing the abuser deeper and deeper into secrecy. That's why it exists.

🖕✝️🖕

It's ok when a christian does it.

Heaven is above the law.

sickening

Disgrace

DougDucey yup hypocrites

Expand the court, katiehobbs.

Time for a new law

🤮🤮🤮🤮weirdos

OOOOOFFFFFF And republicans around the country are silent

Hey, it worked for the Catholic church for how many decades? Centuries? Maybe they can escape earthly judgment, if not God's.

So 'above the law'? Wonder how quickly Trump will claim to be a member of this cult....uh....church?

It’s almost like….. they are protecting these predators in the face of logic — which means very powerful people are also trying to save themselves through the judges they’ve used dark money to appoint. What a time to be alive

The boomer generation and their ancient fairy tales of religion can’t leave us fast enough

Can they go after them in federal court?

Someone got paid off 😂

Pathetic country. Religion is a disease

Be Atheist

Good. 'Separation of Church and State' works both ways. You don't want church in your government? Keep your government out of my church.

.LDSchurch There should be no privilege when you rape children. Shame AZ

🤔🤔🤔 republicans want to protect children?

It should surprise no one that many in politics and the courts moved to AZ from Gym Jordan's state of Ohio including former Governor Doug Ducey.

The demonic church, has used some effort to ensure this ex bishop might not be charged ..

Hahaha they scream about drag queens to turn around actually protect a proven pedophile ring. Super confused rednecks.

Dumb as hell, no clergy/leadership should not have a privilege to keep information secret for the grand reason of “because Jesus”. If someone confesses to clergy that they abused a child, that clergy should tell the law. That is an ethical obligation, period.

Disgusting!

WTF close down the churches! What are they afraid of! Just telling God you sinned won’t do it anymore! Need bi partisan special counsel to investigate all Catholic Churches to start with! Then Latter Day Saints, and Mormons! Investigate pedophiles, and involvement in politics!

Hiding perverts The Mormon church?

Groomers

Fancy Pants Below See ? Sounds like a hangover with Nancy Pelosi

Sooo where are the 'trans groomers'? Why aren't Republicans passing laws to ban the church?

Of course they have.

So. Above (or below, morally) the law.

their silence was another assault on the victims

🤣🤣🤣Of course!

Of course it did.

In Canada, churches with a history of this seemed to be rather accidentally fire prone.

That's fucked up.

Red state btw

Lol promote a patriarchal medievally founded monolith for nothing in return…totally, where’s the single moms donation box? None of them EVER HAD ONE!!!

So to be “temple worthy” in the LDS Church, you must periodically meet with your bishop for whats called a worthiness interview to confess all your sins. There are A LOT of crimes going unreported because of this clergy privilege. These laws need to be repealed!

Churches who condone this are not churches and are not believers in Christ. These churches specifically, are rather cult-like. Everyone needs to be aware of churches like these. So despicable and blasphemous.

Disgusting

That’s an outrage

If actions are truth, then it’s pretty obvious they couldn’t care less about children. Watch what they do and don’t be distracted by their faux outrages: Disney, drag queens, books, M&Ms, CTR, etc.

'We can be a creepy pervert cult and we never have to tell anyone!' Meanwhile these freaks buy pieces of government for themselves and their deranged agenda.

The WHOLE ballot, folks. Vote. the. entire. fucking. ballot.

What?

I am confused! y is this a PRIVILEGE of any church?if someone confesses a crime then they are expressing a cry for help and repentance and should be reported to police.

cochisecounty AZ.

This is outrageous. The welfare of children should always come first.

Shameful.

One of the biggest blunders of history was people not throwing Joseph Smith in the stocks and laughing at him for being a crackpot.

ThoughtsNations Terrorist organization!

Republicans protecting the pedophiles. Looks like they got to you too, Arizona. Remember this at the ballot box.

opinionated75 Churches are a Haven for child predators, clearly the government does not care to protect them unless they’re the unborn.

Our government is rife with pedophiles pretending to protect children

'The Church has no tolerance for abuse of any kind,' but we won't protect children or do anything about it.

Pro-life my ass!

Republicans are loudly and shamelessly projecting and gaslighting issues of child abuse onto the LGBTQIA community meanwhile actively protecting pedophiles behind a veil of “religious rights” and perpetuating the proliferation of child sexual abuse. CoryGn maddow

This is sickening and wrong. It’s time to stop covering up the abuse

Trump about to try and join

Buncha straight up BS. We need to start protecting individuals over the institutions that exploit them.

God does not approve of policies that protect & enable abusers. EVERYONE should report abuse of minors.

Oh it gets worse. Church leaders also don't go to law enforcement if they learn about the abuse from a victim or someone else.

Organized religions are magnetic for corruption. Have been since time immemorial.

This is a sick country

Corrupted to the core.

Does this mean it is not just the Catholic Church that harbors pedophiles?

Churches are the real groomers and abusers.

Mormons have a choke hold on Arizona.

That's nice of the Prophet to pay off the courts, I'm sure the next temple in AZ will keep all the crooked law makers paperwork in the basement for them like all the other temples do..😉

Why do ppl still send their children to these churches? smh. My church is my house. I teach my son about Jesus. He doesn't need any alone time with a Priest or Pastor. I don't trust them

I seriously thought it was mandatory for Any clergy to report Anything in any regards to breaking the law. ESPECIALLY child abuse.

The lesson is… if you go the crime, do it in the name of Jesus.

Wait..what? This doesn’t sound right.

Religion is a scam. ScamAlert TaxTheChurches pedophelia nonosquare

But the drag queens

The safe house of child predators

Astounding

LDS Church: be honest in all your dealings (🤫but only if the law requires you to be)

Set the republican controlled supreme court in the state of Arizona is now protecting child molesters!

NotADragQueen

Fuck that

Then TAX THEM!

fowlerbd2m haha

It's no wonder so many lost souls are flocking to this legitimate, popular and robust religious institution that will certainly endure for millennia and is definitely not a lame cult

More reasons to dislike the church and mormons

Why on earth would ARIZONA side against an abused child ? 🚨 ChurchOfLatterDaySaints MORMONS 👎🏼

No questions about Joe Smith, the sex addict, who had 2,000 wives.

Lake. Synema. This. WTF, Arizona?

Weird, these groomers don’t look like drag queens

Time to change the law

every crime is allowed in the name of a fake god

Mormons, sex problems since, well, the very beginning I guess.

Wonder how much money changed hands.

Like records regarding sexual misconduct of leaders?

ButterShemales

Disgusting.

Larissa84403556 “the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can refuse to answer questions or turn over documents under a state law that exempts religious officials from having to report child sex abuse if they learn of the crime during a confessional setting.” That’s INSANE.

Omg, the courts are protecting sex offenders...

AZ CONSERVATIVE SC decided protecting Christian orgs is more important than the kids being abused I say Christians bc it's always them, Catholics, So Baptists, etc. A study found 3 types of offenders in churches: Opportunists, Groomers, & Serial offenders. It's always projection

Incredible. Looks as the Arizona's people live as they were in the Middle Age... Zero Justice. Poor kids.

It's time that clergy fall under the same laws as everyone else. And it's way past time the most vulnerable are protected from sick bastards from all angles. The religious, the trans, the Weiner guy in CA, the traffickers, the junkies, they all need to be accountable

So that's why they want their members to have large families.

I'm beginning to think the crazy pedophile conspiracy theory the extreme right has about the Democrats is actually what's happening in Magaland.

Ban drag shows!

How are church staff not mandated reporters that is wild

Total open door to cover abuse.

The Catholic Church handed over documents re. pedophile priests but the Mormon Church is refusing?

The fylthy degenr8s in the church, lifelong pedophiles and rapists.

The real question here is how do we make it trump’s fault?🤔

I used to live a mile from the temple in Gilbert, all my neighbors were Mormon. I will only believe in hell if they all go there. God, fuck religion, honestly.

Eww

Hmmm wonder why?

NotADragQueen

If a popular drag club accused of child abuse was refusing to turn over documents or answer questions about the case That would be absolutely unacceptable. But it’s never the drag community. It’s the church. Like a broken record. Unacceptable.

Protecting the pedophiles! That's what churches and Republicans do best!

Clergy Privilege protects child sex abuse in churches & religious schools in 33 States. Republicans don't care about your children being abused at a religious school or shot & killed at school.

🙄

So that’s not right for a million reasons

wpsully

How is this allowed!

Tax The Churches

Excuse me? How do all these judges constantly forget separation of church and state. Oh right they aren't forgetting, just trying to push bullshit on everyone else

Well that's makes it even more sketchy

Wha.. who’s in charge here?

“Oh but them drag queens are the issue!” Meanwhile, the rest of the sane world looking at religious conservatives….

Disgusting….. I hope he’ll has some rooms ready for these so called religious folks

Always churches

Arizona supreme court has decided to protect religious pedophiles. That's fucked up. TaxTheChurches

Phucking bonkers.

So, to review, this church -- as with the Catholic church -- has immunity to continue to engage is a conspiracy to aid and abet the sexual assault and abuse of children.

Nothing a republic court likes more than enabling child predators.

Christians are doing a fantastic job ruining this country

How do you spell, BULL_SHIT!!!

Huh... clergy members abusing children... I wish that statement shocked me.

Sorry Clergy privilege isn't going to hold for much longer, ask DeptofDefense

Tell me again why the right doesn’t like atheists?

WTAF

“Protecting the kids”

how is this possibly conceivable

SCUM

Special place in hell for these men of the cloth.

But do go on about who’s doing the grooming.

The Fick.

Sweet. Secret religious laws.

NOPE TaxTheChurches

Easy solution: delist the recognition of the LDS Church as an official religious organization in Arizona. Cultists cannot plead clergical privilege.

It's beyond time to tax the churches.

Funny how it is never drag queens...just the churches

Holy hell

🤡 clown world where government protects cultist

Tell the Judge What He's Won Sally! It's a brand new car!

🗑️

TaxTheChurches

Oh great

This is disgusting

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