A committee representing sex abuse victims with claims against the bankrupt Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee has moved to recuse a federal judge, alleging he has a conflict because he purchased final resting places for his deceased parents on church land potentially affected by a decision he made last month.
U.S. District Judge Rudolph Randa in Milwaukee ruled on July 29 that a trust overseeing $55 million for preservation and maintenance of cemeteries owned by the archdiocese was protected from bankruptcy claims under the U.S. Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and the First Amendment’s free-exercise clause. The official committee for unsecured creditors, most of whom are sex abuse victims, wants access to the trust fund in the archdiocese’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition, filed in 2011.
