| Doe v. Holy See | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Court | United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit |
| Full case name | John V. Doe v. Holy See |
| Argued | March 5, 2008 |
| Decided | March 3, 2009 |
| Citation | 557 F.3d 1066 (9th Cir. 2009) |
| Case history | |
| Prior history | 434 F. Supp. 2d 925 (D. Or. 2006) |
| Subsequent history | Cert. denied, 561 U.S. 1024 (2010); motion to dismiss granted, No. 3:02-cv-00430 (Aug. 20, 2012). |
| Court membership | |
| Judges sitting | Ferdinand F. Fernandez, Marsha Berzon, Otis D. Wright II (C.D. Cal.) |
| Case opinions | |
| Per curiam | |
| Concurrence | Fernandez |
| Concur/dissent | Berzon |
Doe v. Holy See, 557 F.3d 1066 (9th Cir. 2009), was a lawsuit involving the sovereign immunity status of the Holy See in relation to the Catholic sexual abuse scandal in the United States. The threshold question of law in the case was whether the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act allows the Holy See, a sovereign state in international law, to be sued for acts of local Catholic clergy.
U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mosman ruled that the Holy See cannot be held liable because there was no relationship of employment in the case. Jeff Anderson, attorney for the plaintiff, said he would appeal the decision.[1] The case was finally dismissed in August 2013.[2]