Bramlette Breaks Seal on State Farm/Hood Settlement Documents
This court ruling was not unexpected. A similar situation took place in the sealing of the discovery documents in the settlement between the Connecticut Diocese of Bridgeport and the alleged victims of clergy sex abuse.
The media, ranging from THE NEW YORK TIMES to the HARTFORD COURANT, demanded access. The DIocese of Bridgeport refused. Three times the Diocese took the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court. Three times the U.S. Supreme Court tossed it. Eventually, a Connecticut Superior Court ruled that the 12,000+ pages of discovery documents had to be made available to the media by December 1, 2009.
Among the disclosures, as the media published excerpts from the documents, were the names of clergy associated with the so-called cover-up. There was outrage that they remained in positions of authority and power in the Catholic Church.
We are now waiting to find out what the media will tell us after it reviews those documents. What we do know is that Lange will probably be adding a new Preface to the next printing of KINGS OF TORT and including this fresh insight into the Mississippi follies in his speeches on the lecture circuit.
Law and More
Jane Genova
9/3/10
Magnolia Tribune
