Bankruptcy court orders audit for San Diego diocese News
Bankruptcy court orders audit for San Diego diocese

[JURIST] A US bankruptcy judge on Wednesday ordered an independent audit of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego [bankruptcy materials], which filed for Chapter 11 protection [JURIST report; diocese Q&A] in light of some some 140 sexual abuse lawsuits currently pending against the diocese. The judge accused the diocese's lawyers of conspiring with the diocese to move funds into the bank accounts of independent parishes and called the church's accounting system Byzantine. A lawyer for the church said the money transfers were not an attempt to shield funds from the bankruptcy court, but were part of the normal course of business for the church, which regularly distributes funds throughout the parishes. AP has more.

Four other dioceses nationwide have filed for bankruptcy to compensate the victims of clergy sex abuse [JURIST news archive]. The US Roman Catholic Church announced on Tuesday that sex abuse claims decreased in 2006 [JURIST report].

THIS DAY @ LAW

First Fleet departs from England to establish penal colony in Australia

On May 13, 1787, the First Fleet departed from England, carrying 780 British convicts to establish a penal colony in Australia. Led by Captain Arthur Philip, all eleven ships arrived safely in Botany Bay, New South Wales, Australia in January of 1788.

Read Captain Philip's account of his voyage on Project Gutenberg, and learn more about the journey and its impact from First Fleet online.

Federal government denied funding to segregated school districts

On May 13, 1966, the US federal government took its first action against violators of the desegregation guidelines of the 1964 Civil Rights Act by denying federal education funding for 12 segregated Southern school districts. Learn more about school desegregation.