In a unanimous decision, the highest court in New York State
has ruled that two Lawrence/Far Rockaway rabbonim cannot be
held legally liable for having, as a matter of religious
conscience, disclosed information given them in
confidence.
The Court of Appeals dismissed a lawsuit brought against the
rabbonim by a congregant involved in a marital dispute who
disclosed confidential information to them. Each rov
determined that halacha obligated him to inform her
husband, as well as the court considering issues involving
custody of the couple's children.
The woman then filed suit against the rabbonim, alleging that
they had violated their duty to keep silent under the New
York State's "clergy-penitent privilege."
The rabbonim countered that the "clergy-penitent privilege"
was enacted only to protect members of the clergy from being
forced to reveal, in court, confidential information relayed
to them by their congregants, and does not grant individuals
the right to sue members of the clergy. They further argued
that they had been religiously required to make their
disclosures, and that their actions were thus protected as a
matter of freedom of religion.
The rabbis' attorneys, supported by a "friend of the court"
brief written by noted Washington attorney Nathan Lewin and
submitted by the National Jewish Commission of Law and Public
Affairs (COLPA) on behalf of several Orthodox Jewish
organizations including Agudath Israel of America, had argued
that the rabbis considered themselves obligated by Jewish
religious law to disclose the information, and that secular
courts are prevented by the U.S. Constitution from
involvement in matters of religious law.
The case proceeded all the way to the Court of Appeals, New
York's highest court.
The Court of Appeals, in its ruling, agreed: "The prospect of
conducting a trial to determine whether a cleric's disclosure
is in accord with religious tenets has troubling
constitutional implications."
Citing past precedents, the court ruled that "civil courts
are forbidden from interfering in or determining religious
disputes," and concluded as a matter of law that the "clergy-
penitent privilege" does not provide a legal basis for suing
members of the clergy for violating their confidences.
Agudath Israel attorneys Chaim Dovid Zwiebel and Mordechai
Biser, who were "of counsel" to the COLPA brief, praised the
Court of Appeals ruling as "a landmark victory for the cause
of religious liberty."
