Law And More

Pedophile Nuns - Latest Chapter in Roman Catholic Church Alleged Sexual Misconduct

Those of us who has attended Catholic school are not surprised by media reports of what is being labeled "pedophile nuns." Those "brides of Christ" had enormous power over students back in the 20th century. 

CBS focuses on the alleged sexual abuse of Trish Cahill.

At the age of 15 she confided to Sister Eileen Shaw alleged sexual misconduct by a priest who was also her uncle. Part the alleged way Shaw comforted her included alcohol and instructions on how to have sex with a woman.

Eventually, Cahill reported the situation to the Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth. The Church settled with Cahill out of court for $70,000.

So far, almost 20 others have stepped forward to contend they were also sexually abused by nuns. I have a hunch this is the beginning of yet another major scandal associated with Catholicism.

Among the current lawsuits is "Joseph McLean, et al. v. US Conference of Catholic Bishops." The litigation leverages the argument that the Catholic Church caused a public nuisance. 

But, sexual abuse was only the tip of the iceberg related to how nuns allegedly used their power to damage young people.

In 1963, I arrived at all-women's Catholic college - Seton Hill, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Sisters of Charity and named after now-Catholic saint Mother Elizabeth Seton. 

I was one of those classmates who were sitting ducks for allegedly being tormented by the nuns.

From the mean streets of Jersey City, New Jersey (pre-gentrification), I was the first in my immigrant family to become college-educated.

My mother was a cleaning lady at my public high school.

My father out started out making his living cleaning railroad cars.

In addition, I was already battling clinical depression, an eating disorder, and sub-zero self-esteem. In 1970, I had a nervous breakdown.

One day soon after arrival at Seton Hill I was pulled out of the Freshman Composition class by the head of the English department. That was Sister Miriam Joseph Murphy.

She reamed me out for talking too much after a reading on campus by a local poet. Murphy kept hammering that I had ruined things for everyone there and that Seton Hill professor - JoAnne Boyle who later became  a Seton Hill president - had baked cookies for the special event.

Talking too much and homemade cookies ... Even though I hadn't had a college education yet my mind questioned the connection with my behavior and the cookies. 

When the verbal flogging was over, I went to my dorm room sobbing. To this day, I wonder what prevented me from jumping from that fourth-story window. 

That hurt, as usual, hardened into rage. Too many opportunities in my life had been derailed by  extreme anger. 

Since 2013, I have been leveraging mindfulness to manage it. Underneath rage is always hurt.

Over Thanksgiving 2017, I traveled to the Seton Hill graveyard housing nuns and the institution's presidents. I had to verify that those who had broken me were indeed dead

Had I come from a privileged background with a father who was a lawyer I would have been informed that I could have sued for alleged intentional infliction of emotional abuse. That I didn't find out about until I attended Harvard Law School around 1985.

BTW, The Horror replicated itself in a different manner in 2014. Here is that story. And here is the story of the public nuisance type Christmas letter.

Mindfulness impresses on those meditating the importance of forgiveness. I am a long way from ready for that. 

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Lawyers - The Tragedy of Answered Prayers (like making partner)

"More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones." - Saint Teresa of Avila

So universal is that phenomenon that author Truman Capote used the concept of answered prayers for his last (unfinished) novel.

And, according a recent article in Abovethelaw by Jordan Rothman, being made partner can be included in those tragedies generated by answered prayers.

According to Rothman, partnership in a law firm is not the BigPrize law students and junior lawyers envision. The reality is that all the sacrifices involved in that achievement might not have an adequate pay-off. 

To begin with, the money probably is not enough for the good life. Aside from BigLaw, partnership could pay less than an associate receives in a Cravath. 

But even in BigLaw, the money may be disappointing. Non-equity partners don't have the access to the compensation which equity partners do. Also the status, power, and influence will probably be much less than the equity folks have, hold, and flaunt. 

But making it into the equity circle is not without its burdens. 

Equity partners first have to invest their own money in the law firm. For that they may have to borrow. In addition, as happened when Dewey LeBoeuf collapsed, equity partners are responsible for debt. 

Many of us who follow legal media and the cases taken on by David Sanford are aware of the growing number of enraged partners, particularly women. They are filing lawsuits for alleged injustices. The poster child for that had been Kerrie Campbell. During the litigation she was pushed out of the law firm. Eventually that lawsuit had been settled. She went on to set up her own shop.

Beyond the profession of law, we bear witness to myriad other instances of answered prayers delivering heartache. The classic play-outs are the stars who can't handle their celebrity status. 

Many spiritual programs and religions recommend praying for guidance, not imploring the universe or a deity for something specific. 

A new year's resolution might be to be open to possibility instead of committing to a concrete goal.

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Heaven: If It Exists, Will Lawyers Be Allowed In? (George H.W. Bush Wasn't a Lawyer)

A Christian, George H.W. Bush had a firm belief in an afterlife.

What seemed to ease his transition from living to the dying process was his conviction that he would join his wife Barbara in heaven. It worked. According to close friends, he had a peaceful death. 

But that was Bush. That's not the majority of us who have veered off from formal religions and are left to sort through old-line myths about the Next.

Also, there is antipathy about the character of lawyers. If heaven exists, they have to be wondering if they will get passed the gatekeepers, on the first try. Or will they have to file motion after motion?

So, there's the book "Heavens on Earth: The Scientific Search for the Afterlife, Immortality, and Utopia." The author is Michael Schermer, columnist for Scientific American. Here the book can be ordered from Amazon.

From the get-go, Shermer shows he doesn't buy Christian mythology. For example, he observes that no one has returned from the dead to tip us off about the Next. Obviously, he rules out Jesus Christ's. According to religious ideology, Jesus came back to life post his death on the cross. 

However, Shermer does point out that 74 percent of Americans believe in heaven (Source: Pew Forum). The rub, of course, is that no one will have this confirmed until death. So, both during this best time of the year and more routine days and nights, we have to live on with no proven-out answer - only our little individual mindset.

Oh, there have been scientific studies. But, science has lost our allegiance. Remember what "they" said about taking antidepressants forever if we had had one clinical depression. Smirk smirk. And what about the firm faith in psychoanalysis? Analysts such as David W. Harder were positioned and packaged for the so-called sophisticated as the Secular Shamans. 

Consequently, what's Next remains a mystery. The upside of that is that we can unleash our imaginations to play out the kind of existence we can enjoy after how difficult life has become on earth.

I envision being in a field surrounded by all my pet children who have died.

We have no time commitments. We just are, together.

There is no more clinical depression. No more earnest therapists like David W. Harder. 

No former college classmates who caused us so much pain.

No more disappointments about client assignments we anticipated which didn't come through.

And, no more regrets.

Those, in my realm of make-believe, are days of heaven. I have much to look forward to. That hope will keep me going. 

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Sanford Heisler Sharp Will Represent Victims of Sexual Abuse by Roman Catholic Church

Historically, Sanford Heisler Sharp's signature has been the law firm's successful verdicts and settlements in employment discrimination. 

Then it had added sexual misconduct cases. Here is the backgrounder on its involvement in the Columbia University Title IX Lawsuit. 

Now, Sanford Heisler's branding will be extended to representing victims of sexual abuse by the Roman Catholic Church. Here is the law firm's invitation to those victims to contact its lawyers. 

The Roman Catholic Church should be very afraid. Sanford Heisler is one of those law firms the defendants' lawyers don't want to be opposing.

And, Sanford Heisler is not alone in taking on the Roman Catholic Church.

Recently, a public nuisance class action lawsuit was filed against it in the United States District Court District of Minnesota. The specific defendant is the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Here is a copy of the complaint.

Ever since traditional public nuisance law was leveraged as product liability litigation against corporations which had manufactured and/or marketed lead paint, it has blossomed into a multi-dimensional tool for plaintiff lawyers. Defendants range from energy utilities to pharma (opioids).

Meanwhile, those of us in the communications business recall when the Roman Catholic Church was among the most powerful and enduring global brands. That was then.

Given just the lawsuits, it's predictable that the total institution will collapse in America from the legal bills, verdicts against it, and settlements. Lawsuits such as will be filed by Sanford Heisler could become "The Next Asbestos."

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Nuisance Law Leveraged against U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Many have become all too familiar with public nuisance law through the class action lawsuits against former lead  paint manufactures such as Sherwin-Williams.

Most recently, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review the conviction of Sherwin-Williams and other defendants in the Santa Clara, California litigation. No surprise, two counties in Pennsylvania have also filed public nuisance lawsuits against Sherwin-Williams.

Public nuisance law has also been leveraged against utility companies and the pharmaceutical industry. 

Obviously, lawyers are finding it a multi-purpose legal tool.

Earlier this month, lawyer Jeff Anderson had filed a public nuisance class action lawsuit against the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The filing date was November 13, 2018 and the venue was the United States District Court District of Minnesota.

Here is the media coverage.

And here is a copy of the complaint "Joseph McLean, et al. v. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops."

Essentially, the lawsuit contends that the silence of the bishops about the identity of the clergy sex offenders and the bishop's activities to avoid scandal constitute the maintenance of a public hazard. 

The question is: Will this legal strategy work?

It took years before public nuisance law, applied to lead paint, resulted in a conviction that survived the appeal process. In Rhode Island, the state supreme court threw out the whole case. Previously a jury had convicted Sherwin-Williams and two other defendants. I had blogged that trial.

This one against the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops could also take years. During that process, the defendant could cave and settle. The terms of the settlement could include a legal contract about transparency.

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John Allen Chau - Had He Lived, He Might Have Been Taken into Tribal Custody for Trespassing

You can imagine: A strange man stepping foot on your private land. With all your electronic security devices you probably could simply have scared him off with a warning to leave. If he didn't, the next step would be a call to 911 to come arrest the intruder for trespassing.

Well, the primitive tribe on the North Sentinel Island in India did not have installed a sophisticated security system.

And, they didn't wait to alert the powers that be of the danger.

They simply aimed their bows and arrows at the unknown man who had arrived by canoe. His name was John Allen Chau. He died from that attack. 

The Daily Mail reports that members of the tribe then tied a rope around his lifeless body and dragged it away.

Chau had come in peace. His intention was to share with the tribe the good news of Christ. Whether they were interested in that or not. 

We former Roman Catholics will recall bringing in quarters on Friday at the parish school. Those were used to adopt pagan babies. For our quarters we have the privilege of naming the pagan baby whose soul we would save. 

By the eight grade, "they" were talking with us about preparing to join the front lines of missionary work in far off lands. The option open to females was to become a Maryknoll nun.

Sure, I attended several welcome-to-your-vocation meetings with the Catholic missionary outreach organizations. Already battling clinical depression and insomnia at age 11, I became wide open to saving myself through saving the souls of others. Given that, it should surprise no one that when, as an adult living in Manhattan, I again investigated becoming a missionary nun. 

But over the years I have found out from the children of all kinds of missionaries from diverse religious organizations that the lifestyle could be as fraught with emotional turmoil as the more standard one back in the U.S. Their parents, they claimed, were troubled, unable to emotionally connect, and therefore not all that successful in their mission.

Where I and some of the offspring of missionaries did finally find peace of mind is in 12-step programs which forbid promotion. The ideology is one of attraction, not missionary zeal. 

Having been drawn to the missionary life, I have a deep compassion for Chau's yearning to share what he assumed would be helpful to others. According to the Daily Mail, he was not nutty: He understood the risk. In a letter to his family he advised them not to blame the tribe if he perished. Some who read into this might conclude he was doing a "Suicide By Belief."

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Southern Poverty Law Center - Questions of What Is a "Hate Group" and Should That Really Matter

In many circles, being actively against alleged hate groups puts you on the side of the angels. That's so much the situation that being known for that can be, well, profitable. 

In The Washington Post, David Montgomery reports that the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLA), which lists 953 active hate groups, raised $132 million last year. That had been significantly more than the previous year.

SPLA started up in 1971 to support lawsuits associated with alleged racial bias. Legal advocacy remains a core mission. 

However, it also has made it its "business" to identify, disclose, and monitor hate groups. That certainly seems noble. 

But, as Montgomery explains, there is increased questioning of the criteria used to label an organization a hate group.

What was clear last night on "20/20" was that the ideology of groups against gays and Jews helped trigger the murder of Blaze Bernstein. Those kinds of groups should be outed and investigated. 

However, human experience surely shows that groups with strong opinions much of the rest of society disagrees with aren't necessarily hate groups.

The classic example could be the Roman Catholic Church which has long forbidden its members from using artificial means of contraception - and, of course, abortion. Many others disagreed and continue to disagree with that. However, despite its myriad flaws, the Roman Catholic Church is not a hate group. 

Needless to say, it hurts one's brand to be declared a hate group. Also, that can put the organization or the individual on the radar of law enforcement. In addition, labeling whatever as a hate group can dance on the edges or right into the heart of defamation. 

Given the influence of the WaPo analysis it might be good business sense for Richard Cohen, SPLA president, to back off vigilance of supposed hate groups and channel more resources, including staff attention, to legal advocacy. 

Extreme stances on issues can be just that: extreme. And that is the end of the story. Progress in so many aspects of civilization has been triggered by oddball views which were put out there with great intensity. In the 1960s, lawyer Ralph Nader was perceived as off for making consumer rights a matter of law - and branding.

The concept of hate groups might be reframed to be groups or individuals recommending violence as a method of self expression or reform.

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Anti-Semitism Raw

In Los Angeles, anti-Semitism has taken on a rawness. 

Beginning last September while Jews were observing Yom Kippur, a slim white male in his late 20s or early 30s would target orthodox Jewish woman. There they would be walking on a street, alone. He would grab their wigs off their heads. Usually then he would return them, with a smile.

Obviously, the act was to humiliate, in public. Also, it generates terror among other women in the orthodox community. 

This week, the miscreant was at it again. But instead of a smile, after he pulled off the wig he threw it on the ground. As law enforcement observes on all those popular television crime shows such as "Criminal Minds," the guy is escalating. The Squirrel Hill massacre might have motivated him to up the hostility. 

The New York Daily News has published a photo of him. And anyone with information should contact LAPD detective Dan Fournier at 818-754-8451.

Litigation Communications

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Death Penalty Wrong Move in Robert Bowers' Case - Others Could Find Becoming a "Martyr" Seductive

The U.S. Attorney's Office is seeking the death penalty in the case of alleged mass murderer Robert Bowers. 

As the New York Daily News reports, U.S. Attorney Scott Brady has requested permission from U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions for that. 

Introducing the death penalty for a crime in which the alleged miscreant was acting on a belief system could position and package him as a kind of "martyr." To those with extreme values that could be seductive, motivating them to also engage in behavior which would result in the death penalty.

The recent film "Paul, Apostle of Christ" glorified being a martyr.

Before the followers of Christ were fed to the lions, Apostle Paul told them it would only hurt a bit, then they would enjoy eternal salvation. He himself was looking forward to martyrdom. Soon enough, he was beheaded. As the ax was being swung, Paul's face registered bliss.

Those who were socialized in an extreme religion such as Roman Catholicism likely were encouraged to engage in risky behavior to promote their beliefs and attract other members.

For example, in St. Boniface Roman Catholic School in downtown Jersey City, New Jersey, we children of immigrants were encouraged to embrace the career path of missionary in primitive regions of the world. That sure appealed to many of us until society overrode the message and directed us to college and a career path in Corporate America. 

Yes, children are impressionable. But so are myriad troubled adults. They could feel emboldened by the "sacrifice" Bowers had allegedly taken.

In addition, the death penalty rules out the possibility of redemption. In prison, Bowers, like Watergate lawyer Chuck Colson, could come to see things differently. 

Also, taking Bowers' life won't bring back the 11 in Squirrel Hill. 

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Gab Goes Dark - GoDaddy Tells It to Find New Domain Provider

Smart media and business guidance could have kept social network Gab in the safe-content box.

However, the newbie, launched in 2016, allowed its posters to stray too far out of the box with rhetoric that was assessed to encourage violence.

Now, reports TechCrunch, Gab is over. At least for now. Its domain provider GoDaddy told it to find another registrar. Since then, Gab is offline. 

Part of this GoDaddy action is in response to the worldwide news that alleged mass murderer Robert Bowers posted hate speech on Gab. But even before that, alt-right Gab got on the wrong side of the tech community. For example, Apple and Google banned it from its App stores. 

More recently, though, PayPal and Stripe suspended its payment accounts. And cloud hosting service Joyent parted ways. 

Underlying this push-back against a social network which is perceived to be extremist is the age-old issue: Can there be a direct correlation between words and action? 

In short, how much influence and power does language really have? Is the pen really more mighty than the sword?

In the era when the medium of published books dominated, academics frequently raised the question if language products such as "Uncle Tom's Cabin" helped end slavery.

Further back in history, did the satire on religion Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" prompt Roman Catholics to push for reform? 

Although we are in a post-book time, there are still those questions on applications for content assignments or even jobs about what books changed one's thinking or had a great influence on us.

Not long ago, for instance, I applied to research and create equities analysis for Motley Fool again. Years ago, more than 140 of my writeups had been published on Yahoo Finance under the umbrella of Motley Fool.

On the application was that question about books. My answer was that Scott Galloway's "The Four" had reinforced my questioning about the power of branding. The system of brand management had been invented by P&G in the 1930s. In my current purchasing patterns, I am post-branding. 

Will it be up to the lawyers to duke out if social network language can be held accountable for behavior?

Meanwhile, those socializing youth should explain how misleading the nursery tune can be: Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me. On an emotional level, for many of us the damage has been profound. 

Attention is the currency of the 21^st century. Jane Genova helps you get it for products, services, points of view, causes, branding, careers after-50, and college admission.

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