Milwaukee archdiocese asks Supreme Court to review decision on cemetery trust fund

July 08, 2015

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee has appealed to the US Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that a cemetery trust fund should be counted among the assets of the archdiocese available to creditors in bankruptcy proceedings.

The archdiocese had argued that since the $55-million trust fund was set aside for maintenance of the cemeteries, it was not an asset available to the archdiocese. Lawyers for sex-abuse victims countered that the archdiocese had set up the trust fund in a bid to minimize the potential payment to creditors. A federal judge sided with the archdiocese, but in March an appeals court ruled in favor of the creditors.

The archdiocese, in its request for a Supreme Court hearing, contends that the appeals-court ruling is at odds with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and “leaves religious freedoms vulnerable to encroachment by federal laws asserted in private litigation.”

The archdiocesan, in a legal appeal known as a writ of certiorari, has asked the Supreme Court to review the decision. The US Supreme Court accepts only a small proportion of such cases for review.

 

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Further information:

• Archbishop asks Supreme Court to weigh in on cemetery trust (Journal Sentinel)
• Supreme Court Asked to Take Milwaukee Archdiocese Cemetery Dispute (Wall Street Journal)
• Court rules archdiocese’s cemetery funds should be available to abuse victims (CWN, 3/10)