OPINION AND ORDER
Plaintiff Charles Kavanagh is a former Catholic priest who was defrocked after being found guilty in a secret church trial of the ecclesiastical sin of sexual abuse of a minor. (Compl. (Docket No. 1) ¶¶ 1, 29, 30). After his conviction, Plaintiff pursued a defamation claim in this Court against his accuser, Daniel Donohue, which resulted in a settlement pursuant to which Do-nohue signed a statement changing one aspect of his prior testimony. Thereafter, the Archdiocese of New York (the “Archdiocese”) issued a press release acknowledging the change in Donohue’s account, but stating that Kavanagh had been “found guilty by a Church court of multiple counts of sexual abuse of a minor” and that the change in Donohue’s testimony had no “bearing on the court’s ruling, or on its penalty that Mr. Kavanagh be removed from the priesthood and returned to the lay state.” (Compl., Ex. 1). The press release was printed in full in the Archdiocese’s newspaper, Catholic New York (“CNY"). (Compl., Ex. 2, at 2).
In this suit, Kavanagh brings libel claims against the Archdiocese and its Director of Communications, Joseph Zwill-ing, as well as CNY and its Editor-in-Chief, John Woods, alleging that the press release defamed him by falsely suggesting that he was found guilty of multiple counts of sexual abuse, by falsely implying that he was found guilty in a civil court, and by falsely leading people to believe that he had been convicted of abusing more than one minor. Pursuant to Rules 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Defendants now move to dismiss the Complaint in its entirety. Their principal argument is that adjudicating Kavanagh’s claims would require the Court or a jury to “interpret canonical procedure, standards, and decisions; assess church law and doctrine; examine and assess the evidence presented in the prior canonical proceedings; and thereby impermissibly entangle itself in matters of the ecclesiastical hiring and firing of a church’s ministers, all of which would violate the religious liberty clauses to the First Amendment.” (Mem. Law Supp. Defs.’ Mot. To Dismiss Compl. and Mot. To Seal (Docket No. 11) (“Defs.’ Mem.”) 3). The Court agrees that proceeding with Plaintiffs primary claim would violate the First Amendment. For that reason, and for the other reasons discussed below, Defendants’ motion to dismiss is GRANTED.
BACKGROUND
The following facts, which are taken from the Complaint and documents it ref
Kavanagh, now a resident of Florida, was an ordained Catholic priest in New York. (Compl. ¶ 1). In May 2002, Dono-hue contacted Edward Cardinal Egan— then the Archbishop of New York — and claimed that, over twenty years earlier, he had been sexually abused by Kavanagh while he was a student at Cathedral Preparatory Seminary (“Cathedral Prep”), where Kavanagh had been a teacher. (Compl. ¶¶ 9, 11). Donohue cited two incidents: one when Kavanagh had “jumped on him and rubbed his face on Donohue”; and one when Kavanagh, wearing only underwear, got into bed with Donohue and rubbed up against him. (Compl. ¶ 10). According to Donohue’s original account, the latter incident occurred on a school field trip to a Right to Life March in Washington, D.C. during his senior year in high school. (Id.). Kavanagh denied that he had ever sexually abused Donohue or anyone else. (Compl. ¶ 13).
Shortly after Donohue’s informal complaint, Cardinal Egan ordered Kavanagh to vacate his residence at St. Raymond’s Church and told him that he was prohibited from acting as a priest in light of the accusation. (Compl. ¶ 11). The Archdiocese also informed the media of Kav-anagh’s suspension. (Id.). According to Kavanagh, that was the first time the Archdiocese had ever made a public announcement regarding a sexual abuse accusation against a priest. (Id.). Between May 25, 2002, and December 2010, the press published “multiple” stories regarding the accusations against Kavanagh. (Compl. ¶ 14).
In August 2003, Cardinal Egan told Kavanagh that he was recommending that Kavanagh be permanently removed from the priesthood. (Compl. ¶ 16). Cardinal Egan asked Kavanagh to consent to such removal, but Kavanagh refused and indicated he would contest any attempt to remove him. (Id.). Sometime thereafter, the Archdiocese referred Kavanagh’s case to the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, in Rome. (Compl. ¶¶ 17, 20). (Kav-anagh alleges that, after the case was referred to the Vatican, Cardinal Egan “attempted] to prejudice the Congregation” by writing a letter to William Cardinal Levada, its prefect, “claiming that [Kav-anagh] was ‘abusing’ him[,] i.e.[,] Cardinal Egan.” (Compl. ¶ 20).) In January 2006, the Congregation denied Cardinal Egan’s request to summarily defrock Kavanagh, and instead called for a secret, canonical trial to take place in Erie, Pennsylvania. (Compl. ¶21).
The canonical trial began in November 2006. (Compl. ¶ 22).
The canonical court issued its opinion, totaling thirty-six pages, on November 12, 2008. (Compl. ¶ 29). Its findings are heavily disputed and at the heart of this motion. According to the Complaint, the canonical court credited Donohue’s testimony that he had attended the Right to Life March with Kavanagh while he was in high school, and found Kavanagh guilty of “one count” of sexual abuse of a minor. (Compl. ¶ 30). Defendants vigorously contest this characterization of court’s decision, however, claiming that Kavanagh was found guilty of “multiple counts, or ‘delicts’ of sexual abuse of a minor under the age of sixteen,” in violation of the Sixth Commandment.
During the canonical court proceedings, Donohue’s statements about when the trip to the Right to Life March occurred were published in various media outlets, including The New York Post and The Journal News. (Compl. ¶ 31). On March 26, 2011, almost eight months after the appellate decision affirming his conviction and removal, Kavanagh filed suit in this Court against Donohue for defamation, on the grounds that Donohue’s statements about when the trip occurred were false. (Compl. ¶ 33). On April 26, 2012, the Honorable Michael Hogan of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon mediated the dispute. (Compl. ¶ 34). As a result of that mediation, Donohue admitted that the trip to Washington had not occurred while he was in high school, and he signed a statement to that effect. (Id.; Compl., Ex. 5).
Three days later, in an apparent attempt to have himself reinstated to the clergy, Kavanagh wrote a “private letter” to Timothy Cardinal Dolan — Cardinal Egan’s successor — informing him of Donohue’s signed statement and offering the Archdiocese “a chance to be the first to announce [Donohue’s] significant retraction.”
It has come to the attention of the Archdiocese that the victim in the Charles Kavanagh case has changed one of his claims, specifically concerning an overnight trip to Washington, D.C., during the victim’s senior year of high school. It should be noted that Mr. Kavanagh was found guilty by a Church court of multiple counts of sexual abuse of a minor, and that this particular trip to Washington was not the basis for the court’s decision. Changing this one fact will not have any bearing on the court’s ruling, or on its penalty that Mr. Kav-anagh be removed from the priesthood and returned to the lay state.
We have shared this statement with the victim in the case, who has agreed to its release, as well as with Mr. Kavanagh’s attorneys.
(Compl., Ex. 2, at 2 (emphasis added); accord Compl., Ex. 1).
On September 19, 2012, Kavanagh filed the Complaint in this case (Docket No. 1), asserting claims of libel per se, libel per se by implication, and libel per quod. (Compl. ¶¶ 54 — 66).
APPLICABLE LAW
A. Rule 12(b)
As noted, Defendants’ motion is brought pursuant to Rules 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6). “A case is properly dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under Rule 12(b)(1) when the district court lacks the statutory or constitutional power to adjudicate it.” Makarova v. United States,
By contrast, a Rule 12(b)(6) motion tests the legal sufficiency of a complaint and requires a court to determine whether the
B. Defamation
“The law of defamation serves to protect an individual’s right to one’s reputation.” Idema v. Wager,
As noted above, Plaintiff brings three types of defamation claims: per se libel, which is actionable on its face; per quod libel, which is actionable despite its apparent truth in light of extrinsic facts known to the audience; and libel by implication, in which the false statement is contained not in the statement’s literal wording but rather its innuendo. See, e.g., Idema,
Significantly, given that a plaintiff must prove falsity to prevail in any libel action — whether per se, per quod, or by implication—truth is an absolute defense. See, e.g., Meloff v. N.Y. Life Ins. Co.,
DISCUSSION
A. Plaintiffs Per Se Libel Claim Is Barred by the First Amendment
As noted, Defendants’ principal argument is that judicial determination of whether Plaintiffs claims are valid would “impermissibly entangle” the Court in questions of “ecclesiastical hiring and firing of a church’s ministers,” “canonical procedure, standards, and decisions,” and “church law and doctrine.” (Defs.’ Mem. 3). This argument draws on a long line of Supreme Court cases holding that the First Amendment precludes judicial review of a claim that requires “a searching ... inquiry into church [doctrine]” and prohibits courts from deciding “religious dispute[s,] the resolution of which ... is for ecclesiastical and not civil tribunals.” Serbian E. Orthodox Diocese v. Milivojevich,
Although the Supreme Court has never applied these principles to a claim of defamation, several lower federal courts and state courts have done so. See, e.g., Hutchison v. Thomas,
The decisions in Klagsbrun and Hartwig are especially instructive here.
Scrutinizing the “specific elements” of the plaintiffs’ claims, the Klagsbrun Court held that the suit was barred by the First Amendment. With respect to the claim that the defendants’ statements had falsely labeled Klagsbrun a bigamist, the Court noted that the dispute centered on whether the plaintiff had obtained a religious divorce, not a civil divorce. “Consequently,” the Court reasoned, “to ascertain whether the statements were defamatory, this court must ask whether Seymour Klagsbrun was in fact engaged in bigamy within the meaning of the Orthodox Jewish faith,” a form of “judicial intrusion into ecclesiastical doctrine and practice, which is unquestionably forbidden ground under the First Amendment.” Id. at 741 (emphasis in original). With respect to the claim that the defendants had falsely accused Klagsbrun of non-compliance with a rabbinical court order, the Court concluded that even if the defendants’ statements “were false, this court would nevertheless be required to evaluate whether failure to comply with an order of a rabbinical court ... [is a] wrong[ ] or sin[ ] within the Orthodox Jewish faith,” an “area[ ] of clear ecclesiastical concern.” Id. In granting the defendants’ motion to dismiss, the Court expressly rejected the plaintiffs’ argument that the questions to be answered were “questions of fact and not of competing theological propositions, and thus, [did] not implicate First Amendment concerns.” Id. at 742. “The important point here,” the Court concluded, “is that resolution of the factual disputes would require this court to inquire into religious doctrine and practice.... [The First Amendment] is implicated whenever courts must interpret, evaluate, or apply underlying religious doctrine to resolve disputes involving religious organizations.” Id.
In Hartwig, the plaintiff sued not only for defamation, but also for breach of contract, tortious interference with contract, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, after he was removed from his post as an associate professor at a Roman Catholic college for “publicly representing [himself] as a priest of the Roman Catholic Church.”
As these decisions make clear, there is a line — however blurry — dividing claims that a court may adjudicate without running afoul of the First Amendment and claims that would impermissibly entangle a court in matters of ecclesiastical concern. The question in this case is on which side of that line Kavanagh’s claims fall. Defendants argue that his claims fall on the excessive entanglement side of the line because, to adjudicate the truth or falsity of the statements at issue, the Court would have “to review and interpret two lengthy canonical court decisions, understand and assess the meaning of sexual abuse of a minor under canon law, determine what constitutes a ‘delict’ under church doctrine, and finally, resolve whether the canonical courts did in fact convict Kavanagh of multiple counts of sexual abuse of a minor as defined by canon law.” (Reply Mem. Further Supp. Defs.’ Mot. To Dismiss and Mot. To Seal (Docket No. 17) (“Defs.’ Reply Mem.”) 1). By contrast, Plaintiff argues that judicial determination of his claims would require the Court “to look no further than the [trial court’s] decision itself and see whether [the canonical] court actually did identify ‘multiple counts of sexual abuse.’ There is no analysis of church doctrine required. The Court does NOT have to inquire as to what constitutes sexual abuse of a minor under church law.” (Pl.’s Resp. Opp’n Defs.’ Mot. To Dismiss Compl. and Mot. To Seal (Docket No. 13) (“Pl.’s Mem.”) 9). As he puts it: “The Court must simply determine whether the Plaintiff was found guilty of multiple counts of sexual abuse of a minor.” (Id. at 14).
If evaluating the truth of Defendants’ statement were as straightforward as Plaintiff suggests, the Court would agree that the claims in this case could proceed without running afoul of the First Amendment. That is, if the Court’s or jury’s scrutiny of the canonical court decisions were limited to the brute fact that something was or was not said therein, and that scrutiny did not involve an evaluation of canonical law or church doctrine, then adjudication of Plaintiffs claims would “not result in the Court or the jury having to struggle [with] issues of religious doctrine.” Hartwig,
The reason for that complexity lies in the apparent absence of something akin to a civil judgment of conviction stating unambiguously the offense or offenses of which Kavanagh was found guilty and the fact that, on their face, the canonical church decisions are ambiguous with respect to whether Kavanagh was charged with, let alone found guilty of, one offense or multiple offenses. The trial court decision, for example, refers interchangeably— sometimes even within a single sentence— to “the delict” and “the offense” (ie., in the singular), on the one hand, and “the delicts” and “the offenses” (ie., in the plural), on the other. (Compare, e.g., Decision at 3, 8, 12, 15, 18, 27, 29, 30, 35 with id. at 9, 11, 12, 23, 25, 33, 34). Whereas, at one point, the court states that it is “morally certain that the Accused has committed the delict of an offense against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue” (id. at 15 (emphases added)), only a few pages later, it states that “the offenses at issue were repeated and ... there was an increase of frequency and intensity over time.” (Id. at 23 (emphases added)).
As a result, the central question for purposes of Plaintiffs libel per se claim — whether Defendants’ statement that Kavanagh was “found guilty by a Church court of multiple counts of sexual abuse of a minor” (Compl., Ex. 2, at 2) was true or false — cannot be answered by merely looking at the canonical court decisions to see what the courts said as a matter of fact. Instead, it would require the Court or the jury to engage in an inquiry into what constitutes a “delict” or “offense” within the meaning of Catholic law, to determine as a matter of canon law how many delicts or offenses Plaintiff was found guilty of, and to construe the contours of the substantive sin of “sexual abuse of a minor.” This, in turn, might involve hearing testimony from one or more of the canonical court judges or even dueling testimony from experts in canonical law. As in Klagsbrun and Hartwig, therefore, “in order to adjudicate [Plaintiffs] claims, the Court or the jury would have to determine the truth of the defen
In arguing otherwise, Plaintiff relies on the Second Circuit’s decisions in Rweyemamu v. Cote,
In this case, Defendants have pointed to a disputed religious issue that the Court or the jury would be asked to resolve in connection with the libel per se claim— namely, the truth or falsity of the Catholic Church’s characterization of its own law and doctrine. The First Amendment bars this Court from addressing that issue. At bottom, Plaintiffs libel per se claim, like the defamation claims at issue in Klags-brun and Hartwig, calls on this Court to put its civil imprimatur on what are deeply ecclesiastical points of Catholic faith and practice. The First Amendment serves to prevent exactly this sort of picking of winners in ecclesiastical matters. Accordingly, Plaintiffs libel per se claim must be, and is, dismissed.
B. Plaintiff Fails To State a Claim of Libel by Implication or Libel Per Quod
Although Plaintiffs libel per se claim is barred by the First Amendment, the same cannot be said for his claims of libel by implication and libel per quod. The gravamen of Plaintiffs libel by implication claim is that, by stating that he was “found guilty of multiple counts of sexual abuse of a minor,” Defendants falsely implied that he “was found guilty of criminal conduct” — that is, that he was convicted in a civil court rather than a church court. (Pl.’s Mem. 22). Determining the truth or falsity of that alleged implication would not drag the Court or the jury into a dispute over Catholic doctrine or law for the simple reason that there is dispute at all: Plaintiff was convicted in church court proceedings, not civil court proceedings. Similarly, the gravamen of Plaintiffs libel per quod claim is that, considered in light of media reports suggesting that “hundreds of [Catholic] priests” had “raped and molested children for years,” Defendants’ statement falsely suggested that Kavanagh “must have raped or molested many young victims.” (Pl.’s Mem. 23-24). Again, determining the truth or falsity of that alleged suggestion would not run afoul of the First Amendment because there is no dispute about the underlying fact: Kavanagh was found guilty of abusing only one victim, Donohue.
Plaintiffs libel per quod claim fails for two reasons. First, as with the libel by implication claim, Plaintiffs allegations are belied by the language of Defendants’ statement. Put simply, the notion that the public would conclude that Plaintiff molested “many” young victims is implausible in view of the statement’s unmistakable use of singular, as opposed to plural, definite articles and pronouns: “It has come to the attention of the Archdiocese that the victim in the Charles Kavanagh case has changed one of his claims, specifically concerning an overnight trip to Washington, D.C., during the victim’s senior year of high school.” (Compl. Ex 2, at 2 (emphasis added)). Second, Plaintiff fails to plead special damages. {See Compl. ¶¶ 53, 66). As noted above, New York law is unambiguous that such pleading is an unbending requirement of defamation per quod claims, to the extent such claims exist independently under New York law. See, e.g., Idema,
C. The Canonical Court Decisions Shall Be Maintained Under Seal
During oral argument on the present motion, Judge Cedarbaum ordered Defendants to submit copies of the canonical court decisions to be filed under seal; they did so, and the Court has since placed the documents under seal. (Docket No. 33). Defendants ask that the decisions remain under seal (Defs.’ Mem. 21-23; Defs.’ Reply Mem. 16-17; Docket No. 33); Plaintiff opposes their request (Pl.’s Mem. 24-25; Docket No. 34).
The Second Circuit has held that “documents submitted to a court for its consideration in a ... motion are — as a matter of law — judicial documents to which a strong presumption of [immediate
Here, Defendants have carried their burden to justify keeping the church court decisions under seal. Doing so selves at least two higher values. First, sealing serves the interest of third parties — most notably, Donohue — in privacy, as the decisions contain sensitive and personal information about the sexual abuse of a minor. See, e.g., Hilbert S. v. Cnty. of Tioga, No. 3:03 Civ. 193,
CONCLUSION
For the foregoing reasons, Defendants’ motion is GRANTED, and Plaintiffs Complaint is dismissed in its entirety. Further, the Court orders that the canonical court decisions shall remain under seal, although in the event of an appeal counsel on appeal may have access to them without further application to the Court.
The Clerk of Court is directed to terminate Docket Number 9 and to close the case.
SO ORDERED.
Notes
.As discussed below, see infra note 7, it is somewhat unclear whether Defendants' First Amendment argument is properly considered under Rule 12(b)(1) (in which case, the Court may rely on evidence outside the pleadings and inferences would not be drawn in Plaintiff's favor, see, e.g., Morrison v. Nat’l Austl. Bank Ltd.,
. In this Opinion, the term "canon” (and its derivatives) refers to the body of Catholic ecclesiastical law governing internal church proceedings.
. The trial was preceded by the issuance of a libellus, a type of charging document used by
. A "delict” is a crime under canon law. The Sixth Commandment of the Decalogue reads: "You shall not commit adultery.” Exodus 20:14 (New Revised Standard Version).
. As discussed below, both canonical court decisions have been placed under seal in this proceeding. The trial court's decision is cited herein as "Decision.”
. The Complaint includes separate claims of defamation per se, defamation per se by implication, and defamation per quod. (Compl. ¶¶ 41-53). As libel is a species of defamation, see, e.g., Church of Scientology Int’l v. Behar,
. It is somewhat unclear whether the First Amendment serves as jurisdictional bar or an affirmative defense to claims that require courts to review ecclesiastical decisions. Most district courts to consider the question have treated it as jurisdictional. See Klagsbrun v. Va’ad Harabonim of Greater Monsey,
. According to the Second Department, it is unclear whether there even is a separate cause of action for libel per quod in New York. See Matherson,
. There is some ambiguity about whether the prohibition on civil courts considering questions of canonical law or policy derives from the Free Exercise Clause or the Establishment Clause. See Hartwig,
. These cases are especially instructive because, as in this case, the defamation claims did not directly relate to die hiring or firing of clergy. See, e.g., Downs,
. Judge Droney made clear that, at trial, the plaintiff would not be permitted to “offer a conflicting interpretation of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church or canon law to rebut the College's proffered religious reason for not renewing his contract.” Id. at 216 (citing DeMarco v. Holy Cross High School, 4 F.3d 166, 171 (2d Cir.1993)). To that end, he indicated that “the jury would be instructed
. Among the statements suggesting that Kav-anagh was convicted of multiple offenses are references to the incident that allegedly took place on the trip to the Right to Life March in Washington, D.C. — that is, the incident about which Donohue changed his testimony — as "the final offense” and the "last of a number of offenses that had begun before Donohue was sixteen years of age.” (Id. at 22-23). Nolably, although the church court referred to that incident as one of the two "most objectively grave lewd acts committed by [Kavanagh] with Donohue,” it was not a basis for his conviction, as it occurred when Dono-hue was older than sixteen, "beyond the age which is constitutive for the delict at issue.” (Id. at 21).
. Attached to Plaintiff's Complaint is an affidavit signed by Ari L. Goldman, a journalism professor at Columbia University, purporting to provide evidence that the statements complained of are "ambiguous and even deceptive.” (Compl. Ex. 8, at 1). Because the Court concludes that the allegedly defamatory statements are not actionable as a matter of law, it is unnecessary to consider that affidavit.