Minnesota law review · 1987 · 11 citations · 0 references
LawReligionReligious StudiesChild WelfareFreedom Of ExpressionFreedom Of ReligionChild AbuseChild MaltreatmentChild Protection LawChildhood AbuseFree Exercise ClauseMandatory ReportingAbuse ReportingChild Abuse Disclosure BarriersChild Abuse LawChild Abuse Reporting ExceptionsChild Abuse Reporting SystemsChild Sexual Abuse Mandatory ReportingChild Sexual Abuse ReportingClerical Privilege
The choice between jailing clergy and giving up evidence of child abuse must be a dire one.This Article asks whether that choice faces the law.Pastor John Mellish, a Nazarene minister in Florida, recently went to jail for refusing to divulge information confided to him by an ex-policeman later accused of child abuse.'The minister claimed that the clergy privilege provided him with a legal excuse for not divulging communications confided to him in his professional capacity. 2 This dramatic incident uncovers a tension in the law between the old clergy privilege 3 and new requirements of disclosure of child abuse.