Dr. Ed Peters: Why risk so much for so little?

An LA Superior Court judge has ordered a priest to testify about whether he ever heard the confession(s) of an accused clergy child-abuser, saying that the priest-penitent privilege protects the content of confession, but not the fact of confession. It's a narrow distinction that I cannot consider here; let's just say there are plausible points to be made on both sides of that one. What I want to ask is something different, namely: why does the court think it needs to know whether Father A heard Deacon B's confession in the first place?

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