A Stitch in Haste

How on earth can this headline:

Philly Priests Cleared in Sex Abuse Case

be considered accurate for this story:

The Philadelphia Archdiocese concealed sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests for four decades, a grand jury has found, but no criminal charges can be brought against the church or its clergy because of the limits of state law.

The grand jury, convened more than three years ago, issued a scathing report Wednesday that documents assaults by more than 60 priests. It explored the possibility of charges against the archdiocese, but said the organization can't be prosecuted because it is an unincorporated association rather than a corporation.

"Archdiocese leaders have endangered and harmed children in parishes and schools by keeping known abusers in ministry and transferring discovered abusers to assignments where parents and potential victims are unaware of the priests' sexual" behavior, the report said.

The report names 63 priests "whose abusive behavior was well-documented in archdiocese files and by witnesses who testified" before the grand jury.
...
In the Philadelphia area, church officials have said that 44 priests had been "credibly" accused of sexual assaults since the 1950s but only one priest in the archdiocese has been indicted.

How is that being "cleared"?!?

Refusing to indict is being "cleared." An acquittal is being "cleared." A confession by the real culprit is being "cleared." An admission of police misconduct is being "cleared."

But sneaking past the statute of limitations and being immune as an unincorporated entity are hardly being "cleared." That's just being lucky. And sleazy. And despicable.

I might expect such an intellectually fraudulent spin from the Vatican press office, or from journalistic imposters like Bill O'Reilly or Matt Drudge. But from a supposedly unbiased service like the AP? That's either unforgivable bias or unforgivable ignorance of basic legal journalism.

Either way, shame on them. This ongoing scandal is far too important for sloppy reporting.

More thoughts at FaerieWizard.