[isabel21 at swbell.net: Egan's Law]

[Buddy Brannan]

Heh. This is really, really bad. Funny though :)

----- Forwarded message from isabel castro <isabel21 at swbell.net> -----

CATHOLIC CHURCH MOVES INTO NEIGHBORHOOD
Controversial "Egan's Law" Expected to Gain Widespread Support

Trenton, N.J. (AP) - Under a new law designed to protect minors, local police 
departments will now be required to inform residents any time a known Roman 
Catholic church moves into their neighborhood.

New Jersey State Senate debating Egan's Law.  The law also mandates that 
Catholic churches register with authorities, wear electronic monitoring 
devices, and be prohibited from moving to within a half-mile radius of a 
school.

A follow-up to Megan's Law, enacted by New Jersey in 1994, the so-called 
"Egan's Law" is named for Cardinal Edward Egan of New York and Cardinal 
Bernard Law of Boston, who are both accused of covering up sexual abuse by 
priests under their authority. Like Megan's Law, Egan's Law is expected to 
spread quickly to other states, but for parents in towns across New Jersey, 
it's on the books none too soon.

"Last year, we discovered that a Catholic Church had been in our neighborhood 
for 30 years! And nobody told us!" said Ruth Harper of Redbrook, N.J. "My 
sons used to walk by that church every day on their way to school. Even now I 
shudder to think of what might have happened."

"I always told my kids to steer clear of that place," added neighbor Scott 
Carlyle. "But that's because there were a lot of strange people going in and 
out at odd hours, even at midnight on Saturdays. I was worried it was some 
kind of druggie hangout.  "To think the whole time it was a Roman Catholic 
Church. Now I know why they had all those stained glass windows - so nobody 
could look in."

Critics, however, charge that Egan's Law is unconstitutional, specifically 
because it relies on religious profiling and is intended to safeguard only 
one segment of the population: young males. But State Sen. Carmela Truto, a 
Catholic who co-sponsored the bill, used church doctrine itself to prove only 
one segment needs protection.  "In the Catholic Church, after 2,000 years, 
Mary is still a Virgin," she said. "So clearly, they're not interested in 
girls."

That statement, however, angered Vatican spokesman Edgar Palowski, who said 
it propagated a common misconception about the church. "This doesn't get 
reported enough," he said, "but it's a fact that our priests abuse just as 
many girls as boys."


----- End forwarded message -----

-- 
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV/3  | I choose you to take up all of my time.
Email: davros at ycardz.com | I choose you because you're funny and kind
                         | I want easy people from now on.
                         | --the Nields