August 10, 2004

Well, this should be interesting: "Plaintiffs lawyers have said that, because of that unusual corporate structure, those assets [of individual Oregon schools and parishes] are fair game. And [David] Slader, the plaintiffs lawyer suing the Portland Archdiocese, says canon law is irrelevant. 'Canon law is an internal corporate policy book,' he says. 'If it's inconsistent with the law of the land, it goes in the garbage can.'" (Marie Beaudette, "Churches Weigh Going Bankrupt to Escape Suits", Legal Times, Jul. 28). For more on the Oregon situation, see RoguePundit, Jul. 15; on other church bankruptcies, see Overlawyered, Aug. 23-24, 2000 (Canada: Indian residential schools).