Latest news with #ThomasDaly
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ethics Commission accuses retired MBTA manager of violating conflict of interest law
The Massachusetts State Ethics Commission publicly accused a retired MBTA official of violating the state's conflict of interest law in an Order to Show Cause on Tuesday. The commission alleges that former Environmental Compliance Manager Thomas Daly — who retired in January 2024 — unfairly favored his friend's recycling company during selection processes for awarding MBTA contracts and work orders, it announced in a press release. The commission alleges that Daly and the recycling company owner have been friends since at least 2017, and that the company also employed Daly since at least 2019. In 2017, Daly is alleged to have sent his friend technical specifications for a Request for Proposals (RFP) the MBTA planned to send for a comprehensive waste management program. After the MBTA issued the RFP in 2019, Daly served on its selection committee and inflated his bid evaluation scores for his friend's company, giving it an unfair advantage, the commission alleges. The MBTA ultimately awarded Daly's friend's company a three-year contract worth $1.3 million per year. Daly then helped the MBTA procure a successor waste management program that would go into effect when his friend's company's contract expired in June 2024. The commission alleges that he once again worked to unfairly advantage his friend's company during the selection process for this program. Daly also gave his friend other companies' responses to a 2022 RFP for the disposal of Orange Line cars and a 2023 Request for Information for MBTA 'waste-recycle management,' according to the commission. Finally, Daly is alleged to have recommended his friend's company to the MBTA's procurement manager for a rubber disposal project. The MBTA ultimately awarded the company a $16,000 work order for the project. The commission will schedule a public hearing to address the allegations against Daly within 90 days. It can impose a civil penalty of $10,000 for each violation of the conflict of interest law. How to claim a portion of major child booster seat class action settlement Mass. weather: Heavy clouds possible Wednesday before nighttime rain Person dies after daytime shooting in Roxbury Leominster man admits to trying to stab flight attendant in the neck with a spoon Springfield protests loss of $20M federal grant to protect environment Read the original article on MassLive.
Fox News
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Catholic bishops vow to resist blue state law intruding on 'sacred' trust: 'Obey God rather than men'
The Catholic bishops of Washington state are resisting a new law signed by Democratic Governor Bob Ferguson that they say would violate the seal of confession, which would result in excommunication for any priest who complies. Spokane, Washington, Bishop Thomas Daly released a statement in response to the law in which he said that he and his priests "are committed to keeping the seal of confession – even to the point of going to jail." The new law, signed last week by Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson, who is Catholic, added "members of the clergy" to a list of professionals who are required to report information that relates to child abuse or neglect to law enforcement, and the measure does not provide an exception for information offered at a confessional. The law is set to go into effect on July 26. A central tenet of the Catholic sacrament of confession is that priests are bound by an absolute seal of confidentiality, an obligation that requires them to keep anything learned in confession a secret. Violating this tenet results in what is called "excommunication," which cuts a person off from the church and eternal life, according to Catholic teaching. While Daly said that his diocese has a zero-tolerance policy regarding child sexual abuse and that the church would "do everything within our power to keep your children safe," he said the "Sacrament of Penance is sacred and will remain that way in the Diocese of Spokane." Seattle Archbishop Paul Etienne framed the issue as a question of whether the clergy is "answerable to God or state." He quoted a scripture passage that reads, "We must obey God rather than men." "This is our stance now in the face of this new law. Catholic clergy may not violate the seal of confession – or they will be excommunicated from the Church," said Etienne, adding: "All Catholics must know and be assured that their confessions remain sacred, secure, confidential and protected by the law of the Church." Etienne said that the law cuts to the heart of the First Amendment's ban on the state either establishing or prohibiting the free exercise of a religion. "Once the state asserts the right to dictate religious practices and coerce information obtained within this sacrament – privileged communication – where is the line drawn between Church and state? What else may the state now demand the right to know? Which other religious practices will it try to legislate?" asked the archbishop. On Monday, the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division opened an investigation into the law for possible violations of the First Amendment's religious protections. A statement by the division said that the new law "singles out 'members of the clergy' as the only 'supervisors' who may not rely on applicable legal privileges, including religious confessions, as a defense to mandatory reporting." "The law appears to single out clergy as not entitled to assert applicable privileges, as compared to other reporting professionals," said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. "We take this matter very seriously and look forward to Washington State's cooperation with our investigation," said Dhillon. Bishop Joseph Tyson of Yakima, Washington, posted on Facebook that he was grateful for the Justice Department's investigation, saying that the bishops' attempts to meet with the governor about the law had gone unanswered. "I realize that many may disagree but in a way that parallels attorney client privilege, the seal of confession allows the penitent to come to grips with moral accountability and culpability," said Tyson. "We want to hope and pray that the heart of an offender would be so moved by the mercy of God and the guidance of the skilled clergy that it would necessarily lead to an encounter beyond the sacramental seal with law enforcement." Ferguson did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment. Fox News Digital's Landon Mion contributed to this article.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Spokane and Seattle bishops say they won't comply with new mandatory reporting for child abuse if information obtained in confessions
May 7—The Catholic bishops in Spokane and Seattle have told parishioners they will not fully comply with a new Washington law that requires clergy to report sexual abuse to police, similar to teachers, police officers and other professionals. Catholic leaders say that priests who hear confessions are obligated to keep those confessions secret, but that they are supportive of the rule outside of the Catholic sacrament of confession. The U.S. Department of Justice announced this week that it has opened an investigation into the law, alleging that it "appears on its face to violate the First Amendment." In separate statements, Thomas Daly, bishop of Spokane, said "shepherds, bishops and priests, are committed to keeping the seal of confession — even to the point of going to jail," and Archbishop Paul Etienne of Seattle said those who break the seal of confession face excommunication from the church. "All Catholics must know and be assured that their confessions remain sacred, secure, confidential, and protected by the law of the Church," Etienne wrote. Gov. Bob Ferguson signed the law Friday that will take effect on July 27. Washington is one of five states that does not designate clergy as mandatory reporters, but most states exempt the sacrament of confession. Under current state law, a variety of other professions that frequently interact with children, including police officers, nurses and school personnel, are required to report incidents of suspected abuse within 48 hours, with failure to do so considered a gross misdemeanor. In a statement Monday, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said the law "demands that Catholic Priests violate their deeply held faith in order to obey the law, a violation of the Constitution and a breach of the free exercise of religion cannot stand under our Constitutional system of government." In a statement Wednesday, Ferguson said, "We look forward to protecting Washington kids from sexual abuse in the face of this 'investigation' from the Trump Administration." The legislation Ferguson signed does not include an exemption for the information learned during penitential communication, or communication between clergy and a congregation member, such as in the confession of sins. Daly said in a statement Friday that the "Sacrament of Penance is sacred and will remain that way in the Diocese of Spokane." "For those legislators who question our commitment to the safety of your children, simply speak with any mom who volunteers with a parish youth group, any Catholic school teacher, any dad who coaches a parochial school basketball team or any priest, deacon or seminarian, and you will learn firsthand about our solid protocols and procedures," Daly wrote. According to Daly, the Diocese of Spokane maintains a department called the Office of Child and Youth Protection and has a zero-tolerance policy for child sex abuse. On Sunday, Etienne said the first reading from that day's Mass was from the Acts of the Apostles. "After the apostles were arrested and thrown into jail for preaching the name of Jesus Christ, St. Peter responds to the Sanhedrin: 'We must obey God rather than men' (Acts 5:29)," Etienne wrote. "This is our stance now in the face of this new law." In a statement, Etienne cited two chapters of Canon Law, which state in part that "The sacramental seal is inviolable" and that a "confessor who directly violates the sacramental seal incurs a latae sententiae (automatic) excommunication." According to Etienne, current church policies already designate priests as mandatory reporters, unless the information is obtained during confession. "While we remain committed to protecting minors and all vulnerable people from abuse, priests cannot comply with this law if the knowledge of abuse is obtained during the Sacrament of Reconciliation," Etienne wrote. According to Etienne, the Washington State Catholic Conference staff discussed the proposal with legislators during the session. However, "efforts to collaborate on an amicable solution eventually failed this session, ushering this most extreme version of the bill to pass." Once passed, the bishops of the state of Washington requested a meeting to discuss the legislation with Ferguson, who, according to Etienne, did not respond. As he signed the bill into law on Friday, Ferguson said it "protects Washingtonians from abuse and harm." A Catholic, Ferguson said his uncle served as a Jesuit priest "for many, many, many years here in the Pacific Northwest." "I obviously have a personal perspective on this," Ferguson said. "But protecting our kids first is the most important thing." Ferguson added that the need for the law was "very clear" and that it was "very important legislation." Sen. Noel Frame, D-Seattle, the bill's sponsor, introduced similar legislation in both 2023 and 2024. In 2023, a proposal that did not contain an exemption for confidential penitential communication failed. The version proposed by Frame last year would have established a "duty to warn" for abuse disclosed in penitential communication, though that, too, failed. Ahead of a vote in the Senate, Frame told lawmakers that the bill is about "checking on the child." "This is about making sure we, the state, have the information we need to go make sure that kid is OK," Frame said. "What our mandatory reporter laws do is, it compels our Department of Children, Youth and Families or law enforcement to further investigate and substantiate that report, but in the meantime, make sure that child is safe."
