A New Orleans attorney was punished for exposing a clergy abuser. Here's what officials hid for years
Source: The Guardian
A New Orleans attorney was punished for exposing a clergy abuser. Here’s what officials hid for years
Richard Trahant appeals to supreme court after he was fined $400,000 for helping get priest removed from school – and the record of his sanction was placed under seal
Ramon Antonio Vargas in New Orleans
Sat 23 May 2026 12.00 BST
Last modified on Sat 23 May 2026 12.01 BST
Roman Catholic priest Paul Hart had admitted to inappropriate conduct with a teenage girl; been accused of rape by one woman, which he denied; and faced rumors of sexually harassing another when New Orleans’ archbishop assigned him to be a high school chaplain in 2017.
When an attorney representing survivors of a clergy abuse scandal that drove the city’s archdiocese into bankruptcy learned about Hart’s past, he took steps to get him removed from the Brother Martin high school, an all-boys institution that draws dance team members from a girls-only college preparatory school.
A federal judge presiding over the church’s bankruptcy fined the lawyer, Richard Trahant, more than $400,000.
Two higher courts have left that 2022 sanction in place. So now Trahant has asked the US supreme court – which includes a graduate of the girls’ preparatory school, Amy Coney Barrett – to provide him relief, contending he was not accorded his right to due process.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/23/richard-trahant-new-orleans-clergy-abuse
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