South Carolina Catholic diocese agrees to settle clergy abuse claims for $12 million News
South Carolina Catholic diocese agrees to settle clergy abuse claims for $12 million

[JURIST] The Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston South Carolina [diocesan website] has agreed [press release, PDF] to set aside $12 million to compensate victims and relatives of victims of clergy sex abuse [JURIST news archive] going back before 1980, according to a statement released by the diocese Friday. A judge has initially approved the terms of the settlement. No mention was made of how many potential claims of sex abuse were addressed under the settlement terms, but the statement did say that specific claims against the sum would be settled by arbitration.

Earlier this month the Catholic Diocese of Spokane Washington agreed to settle molestation claims against priests for $48 million [JURIST report] as part of a Chapter 11 reorganization plan. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Ku Klux Klan founded

The US hate group known as the Ku Klux Klan was founded on December 24, 1865 in Pulaski, Tennessee as a reaction to reconstruction efforts following the Union victory in the American Civil War. The group would later become notorious for its attacks on Black Americans, being targeted by the Enforcement Act of 1871, which imposed civil and criminal liability for deprivation of constitutional rights. Read the Enforcement Act of 1871.  

Hamid Karzai born

On December 24, 1957, Hamid Karzai was born in Karz, Afghanistan. He would go on to become in 2004 his country's first elected president after the end of Taliban rule in 2001.