Yesterday I noted that former Gov. Frank Keating, a devout Catholic asked to head a review board on the Roman Catholic Church’s sexual abuse scandal, was forced from his post for comparing the church to the mafia.
Today, however, Marci Hamilton, a well-respected legal scholar at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, takes Keating’s comparison to a more serious level. Hamilton recommends that church leaders face criminal prosecution under racketeering statutes called RICO — racketeering-influenced and corrupt organizations.
RICO was originally crafted to go after the mafia, but has, as Hamilton notes, been used to break up corrupt unions as well. The purpose is to prosecute any organized criminal activities. In light of the church’s well-documented efforts at covering up sexual abuse committed by priests, Hamilton concludes RICO statutes should be applicable.
“Imagine a large, wealthy, and hierarchical organization that persists in believing it is above the law,” Hamilton writes. “Over many decades, the organization has employed a tradition of blood brother secrecy to keep its illegal actions from being analyzed or criticized in the press, or prosecuted and punished by legal authorities. It employs powerful, adept, and highly-paid lawyers, and resists judicial process whenever it can.
“Meanwhile, the organization’s leaders are united in a secret bond that requires them to do whatever it takes to protect the organization from scandal,” she adds. “For them, the cover-up of serious crimes is a way of life, a feature of their everyday business. Those who believe Keating’s analogy was overstated, or unfair, should consider that this description fits both the Mafia, and the Catholic Church’s approach to child abuse by its own clergy.”
It’s a really interesting analysis. If this topic interests you, be sure to go take a look at the whole essay.