Publicity hound: Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha
It is now one year ago that attorneys general from across the country looked on with envy as Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro released a phony "grand jury report" and thereafter garnered a wave of flattering international media attention.
Like a herd of bison, state politicos then rushed to the nearest microphone to announce that they too would go form their own grand juries to go after the evil Catholic Church so that they could have their own moment in the media spotlight.
Never mind that the report was little more than a hysterical press release with a state seal affixed. Shapiro's 1100-page tome was a public relations triumph.
Eager for his own day in the spotlight
Well, it happens that Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha was one of those attention-starved politicos who looked on longingly at what Shapiro had pulled off.
But under current Rhode Island law, as with many other states, a grand jury cannot issue a report unless a criminal indictment is issued. Such a law is wisely intended to protect the innocent from unjust publicity. Yet it completely hinders Neronha from having a headline-grabbing press conference to attack the Church.
But Neronha is so determined to get his day in the spotlight and attack the Catholic Church that he is now actually petitioning his state legislature to pass a bill to specifically allow a grand jury to issue a report even when a criminal indictment isn't returned. This way Neronha can have his own attention-grabbing media event at which he waxes eloquent under the camera's glare of the evils of the Catholic Church and thus maybe set himself up for a run for higher office.
Not that this should come as a surprise to anyone, but no one has ever paid any price for attacking the Catholic Church – whether you even have to change the law to do so.
Shapiro's predecessor was the one who began the grand jury but she later went to jail herself for lying and fraud. What does that tell you?
The Catholic Church is guilty of several horrendous lies and coverups beyond imagination, when pertaining to the destruction and sexual abuse of many innocent children! So what does that tell you, Shawn and any other Catholics willing to face the truth?
Dan,
The issue at hand is not if the Catholic Church is guilty of lies and crimes; She is not. Indeed, some Catholics are guilty, and they will be judged accordingly by God. Meanwhile, the ones actually found guilty by a proper Jury of their peers have faced and will face the appropriate earthly punishment as well.
The issue at hand is whether or not seeking ad hoc legislation is a good thing, especially when clearly motivated by political aspirations, not justice. As TMR correctly notes, people found innocent in the court of law have the right to protect their privacy. A Grand Jury report raison d'être is further investigation of the guilty, not mockery of the innocent. As Justice Powell wrote, following the case for secrecy unanimously upheld by the Burger Court in Douglas Oil Co. of Cal. v. Petrol Stops Northwest, "persons who are accused but exonerated by the grand jury [should] not be held up to public ridicule" (Wikipedia).
AG Neronha may find himself in the position of defending himself in the future (not an impossibility, as recent history shows); would he then still favor such a change, if found not guilty? Or, for what it matters, would you, Dan, agree to have all your information made public simply because you were at one time arrested?
And once again and par for the course, LLC spouts off all the excuses he can conjure up, followed with Malcolm's threat against anyone persecuting the "Religion of Our Lord". If that was directed towards me Malcolm, then I would have to answer that I'm in no way persecuting the "Religion of Our Lord", but rather against the false religion called Catholicism and their leaders who have destroyed the lives of many innocent children. What is it that you guys just don't seem to get or understand?
P.S. For little children who have seen visions of your Queen of Heaven, in pictures they sure look like a miserable bunch of kids. Were they forced into telling these crazy stories? You should research the Bible pertaining to those who see visions. Look it up yourselves.
Dan,
I'll inform the Supreme Court of the USA of your dissenting opinion; perhaps they’ll invite you to join next time there’s an opening.
Meanwhile, keep practicing your putting, although in golf as in your writing, your best chance for improving would be the eraser.
Have a blessed day, brother Dan.
We are all entitled to an opinion. But often our particular view depends upon whom we choose to believe. Well…. I believe a little Portugese girl who died just a month short of her tenth birthday. She said…"Misfortune to those who persecute the Religion of Our Lord". Her name was Jacinta Marto and she was one of the three children who saw the Mother of God… at Fatima…. in Portugal. My belief in her credibility is based, not on blind faith, but on the actual tangible evidence. So I reckon divine intervention will take care of the Peter Neronhas of this world. But in the meantime Catholics should remind themselves that they have a democratic vote.
Dan, You know the drill. I am going to count every word in your longest comment on here and give a dollar per to my (Catholic) church this weekend. That way, your insults actually wind up doing some good in my area, helping the poor with our ministry.
Julie, read Matthew 6:1-4 about giving to please the Lord. Oh! That's right. You catholics make your own rules and don't obey the Bible. What kind of christian did you say you used to be? You sure haven't learned much of anything Biblical, or as a catholic think you don't have to follow the Word anymore. Sad how you think my teaching and instruction amounts to nothing but "insults". If you would only listen to the Lord's advice and put it into practice, you just might learn something constructive.
Thanks, Dan. I'll count the words and give to the collection this weekend. God bless you.