Catholic Church Subpoenas Email Records Of Child Molestation Victims Group

As part of their defense for priests accused of child molestation, lawyers for the Catholic Church have subpoenaed SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, demanding to see more than 20 years of their emails even though they are not party to either side in the lawsuits.

A judge in Kansas City ruled that the network must comply because it “almost certainly” had information relevant to the case. The network and its allies say the legal action is part of a campaign by the church to cripple an organization that has been the most visible defender of victims, and a relentless adversary, for more than two decades. “If there is one group that the higher-ups, the bishops, would like to see silenced,” said Marci A. Hamilton, a law professor at Yeshiva University and an advocate for victims of clergy sex crimes, “it definitely would be SNAP. And that’s what they’re going after. They’re trying to find a way to silence SNAP.”

Catholic League blowhard Bill Donohue is in the middle of this, of course.

“SNAP is a menace to the Catholic Church.” Mr. Donohue said leading bishops he knew had resolved to fight back more aggressively against the group: “The bishops have come together collectively. I can’t give you the names, but there’s a growing consensus on the part of the bishops that they had better toughen up and go out and buy some good lawyers to get tough. We don’t need altar boys.” He said bishops were also rethinking their approach of paying large settlements to groups of victims. “The church has been too quick to write a check, and I think they’ve realized it would be a lot less expensive in the long run if we fought them one by one,” Mr. Donohue said.

"We don't need altar boys." What does THAT mean?