Swanson v. Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• holding negligent supervision claim against church barred by First Amendment
• refusing, on First Amendment grounds, to impose a secular duty of supervision on the church and to enforce that duty through civil liability with regard to section 317
• imposing secular duty of supervision on church and enforcing that duty through civil liability would restrict church’s freedom to interact with its clergy in manner deemed proper by ecclesiastical authorities
• First Amendment bars negligent supervision claim because use of civil standard conflicts ■with standard established by ecclesiastical authorities
• “The imposition of secular duties and liability on the church as a ‘principal’ will infringe upon its right to determine the standards governing the relationship between the church, its bishop, and the parish priest.”
• priest allegedly initiated a sexual relationship with a parishioner who had come to him with her husband for marriage counseling; held: negligent supervision claim, along with negligent selecting and training claims, barred by First Amendment

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).