Doe v. Holy See

Doe v. Holy See
CourtUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Full case name John V. Doe v. Holy See
ArguedMarch 5, 2008
DecidedMarch 3, 2009
Citation557 F.3d 1066 (9th Cir. 2009)
Case history
Prior history434 F. Supp. 2d 925 (D. Or. 2006)
Subsequent historyCert. denied, 561 U.S. 1024 (2010); motion to dismiss granted, No. 3:02-cv-00430 (Aug. 20, 2012).
Court membership
Judges sittingFerdinand F. Fernandez, Marsha Berzon, Otis D. Wright II (C.D. Cal.)
Case opinions
Per curiam
ConcurrenceFernandez
Concur/dissentBerzon

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]