The firm recently won a victory in a case involving core first amendment religious freedom rights. In Stepek v. Doe (910 N. E. 2d 655, 1st Dist. 2009), the Illinois Appellate Court ruled in favor of the firm’s client, the Archdiocese of Chicago, which sought the dismissal of a priest’s defamation lawsuit against individuals who provided complaints about the priest to the Archdiocese’s Review Board.

The Review Board is an important part of the Archdiocese’s process to evaluate claims of clergy sexual abuse of minors, and to discipline clergy in such cases. It is a component in a larger framework of policies stemming from the U.S. Bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Youth and related canon law requirements.

The Archdiocese prevailed because the statements at issue were made solely within the clergy disciplinary process, a zone protected by the Free Exercise Clause, where a person has the right to say anything to a church, and a church has a corresponding right to receive any such communication, without the threat of civil litigation. The Archdiocese moved to dismiss the lawsuit in the trial court, but that motion was denied, and the trial court refused to certify the question for immediate appeal.

Faced with the threat that the litigation could derail its groundbreaking system for compassionate response to victims of clergy sexual abuse, the Archdiocese took the unusual step of filing a motion for supervisory order from the Illinois Supreme Court, essentially asking the Supreme Court to step in and correct the trial court’s error immediately, in order to prevent irreparable harm.

The Supreme Court granted the motion, and ordered the trial court to certify the question to the appellate court, which accepted the appeal and then ruled in the Archdiocese’s favor. The firm’s Jim Geoly and Susan Horner represented the Archdiocese. Geoly, who argued the case for the Archdiocese, said, “We were never in doubt about the merits of our position, but our procedural posture was very challenging. I was both surprised and delighted when the Supreme Court intervened to give us a chance to bring the case to the appellate court. As a result of this decision, religious organizations can safely communicate within internal religious tribunals, which are at the very core of their right to the free exercise of religion.”

For more information, please contact Jim Geoly at 312/840-7080 / jgeoly@burkelaw.com or Susan Horner at 312/840-7082 / shorner@burkelaw.com.