CHARLESTON – The state Supreme Court now will decide if the Catholic Church has to follow the state Consumer Credit and Protection Act when it promotes its educational services.
That’s the crux of oral arguments heard September 22 by the court. It also is part of the argument used by West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey office in a complaint filed against the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston in Wood County. Morrisey’s office says the church failed to protect children from sexual abusers, such as Bishop Michael J. Bransfield.
Last November, Wood Circuit Judge J.D. Beane dismissed one claim filed by Morrisey’s office against the Diocese and certified two questions to the state Supreme Court. While Beane granted the Diocese’s motion to dismiss claims under the CCPA, he also stayed the litigation until the certified questions are answered by the state Supreme Court.
Morrisey
The first certified question is whether the Consumer Credit and Protection Act applies to religious institutions regarding the sale and advertisement of educational and recreational services. Beane said it does not.
The second question is if the cumulative impact of the relationship between church and state constitutes an excessive entanglement which is prohibited by the state and federal constitutions. Beane said it does.
“The Diocese can do whatever it wants when it comes to particular safety practices or training or background checks,” Solicitor General Lindsay See told the Justices during Tuesday’s oral arguments. “But as soon as it includes some of those things as a factual matter in its advertisements to the general public when it’s selling its services, it has to be true. If the Diocese says everyone must pass a background check, that has to be a true fact.”
The Diocese disagreed.
“This case is an unprecedented misapplication of the CCPA and an extraordinary intrusion and prior restraint on free exercise,” Wheeling attorney James Gardill told the court. “We’re talking about the state using an act which is designed for ordinary cash and credit transactions … to enforce a church policy.”
Morrisey said the case isn’t about religion.
“We have deep respect for the Diocese and its schools, and we fervently believe that religious liberty is the bedrock of our nation, yet such liberties are not at issue here,” Morrisey told The West Virginia Record after the September 22 oral arguments. “This is about when the Diocese chooses to act like a business. If an entity – religious or otherwise – chooses to advertise that it conducts background checks, then that fact must be true as the same standard of truth in advertising applies to all entities choosing to advertise a good or service.
“We stand behind our case and remain proud of our arguments, for our investigative subpoena is likely the only reason we have a list of 40 priests who are credibly accused of sexually abusing minors.”
West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals case number 19-1056