Committee: Judge Should Have Disclosed Being In Catholic Legal Group

(Providence, RI)--The Rhode Island Ethics Commission is concluding that a state Supreme Court justice violated ethics rules.The commission said on Tuesday that Justice Francis Flaherty should have reported his involvement with the St. Thomas More Society of Rhode Island, a religious non-profit group comprised of legal professionals, on a financial disclosure document.Flaherty's involvement with the organization was pointed out after he wrote a Supreme Court decision denying the appeal of a woman who sued the Catholic bishop of Providence over alleged sexual abuse by a priest.Flaherty, who was fined two-hundred dollars by the commission yesterday, said he did not knowingly or willfully omit the information.


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