West Virginia accuses Catholic diocese and former bishops of sex abuse cover-up in unusual consumer protection lawsuit

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey sued the Catholic diocese of Wheeling-Charleston and its former bishop Michael J. Bransfield on Tuesday, charging that they “knowingly employed pedophiles and failed to conduct adequate background checks” for people working in Catholic schools and camps, a news release from Morrisey’s office says.

The lawsuit, the latest dramatic civil action against the American church in the past year, alleges violations of the state’s consumer protection laws. It accuses the diocese of advertising safe environments for children while at the same time, the complaint says, choosing “to cover up and conceal arguably criminal behavior of child sexual abuse.” read more »

How should colleges respond to new DeVos rules on campus sexual assault? 

The Education Department released draft regulations in November related to Title IX, a federal statute prohibiting sex discrimination by educational institutions. The new rules, if they become law, would require hundreds (perhaps thousands) of American colleges and universities to change how they handle allegations of sexual assault and harassment. Conforming campus rules to the new federal mandates will require time and attention, with difficult trade-offs that may divide campus communities. read more »

What the Casting Couch Looks Like in the Digital Age

One of Hollywood’s most pernicious tropes hasn’t died. It has merely expanded

On Monday, WarnerMedia announced the departure of Kevin Tsujihara, the chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Entertainment, following the revelation of a years-long series of text messages the executive had exchanged with the British actor Charlotte Kirk. Their digital conversation, provided anonymously to The Hollywood Reporter, suggests that Tsujihara, who is married, had a sexual relationship with Kirk. But it suggests as well that, over the course of the affair, the executive had suggested that he could help Kirk find auditions for, and roles within, Warner projects. read more »