Father M v. Various Tort (In re Roman Catholic Archbishop)

Documents produced in discovery and filed in the bankruptcy court contained allegations that Fathers M and D, two priests who were not parties to the Portland Archdiocese’s bankruptcy case, had sexually abused children. The bankruptcy court held that the discovery documents at issue could be disclosed to the public, because the public’s interest in disclosure of these discovery documents outweighed the priests’ privacy interests under Rule 26(c) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. It also held that the documents filed in court could be disclosed to the public because they did not contain “scandalous” allegations for purposes of 11 U.S.C. § 107 (b). The district court affirmed. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

I

The Portland Archdiocese was the subject of multiple lawsuits seeking millions of dollars in compensatory and punitive damages for sexual abuse of children by specific clergy members of the Archdiocese. In July 2004, while the tort claimants’ lawsuits were pending, the Archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The bankruptcy case thus became the forum for many of the proceedings relating to the tort claims. 1 The appellees (referred to…