The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Monday that the identities of 11 clergy implicated in the grand jury investigation of child sexual abuse in Catholic Dioceses in Pennsylvania would not be revealed.

The court, citing Article 1, Section 1 of the Pennsylvania Constitution, ordered that the names of the individuals be permanently redacted on “Report 1” of the 40th Investigating Grand Jury indicating individuals as “predator priests” in order to protect their right to reputation.

The majority gave as part of its rationale for the decision that the supervising judge of a grand jury has limited power to review or approve a report made by the grand jury. Since grand jury reports are made public, the court found that it may permanently damage a person’s reputation who is named in error. The grand jury process did not involve any cross-examination of witnesses or presentation of rebuttal evidence, or other safeguards under the Rules of Evidence. The court commented, “Where the judiciary has been statutorily enmeshed in a procedure which may result in deprivation of an individual’s due process rights, we may take corrective measures pursuant to our inherent judicial authority to avoid the infliction of such harm.”

The court recognized that its decision would be unpopular stating,

We acknowledge that this outcome may be unsatisfying to the public and to the victims of the abuse detailed in the report. While we understand and empathize with these perspectives, constitutional rights are of the highest order, and even alleged sexual abusers, or those abetting them, are guaranteed by our Commonwealth’s Constitution the right of due process.

Instead, the court put the onus on the legislature to change the function of investigating grand jury proceedings to offer due process protections.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro commented on the outcome,

I have consistently fought for the release of the entire, unredacted Grand Jury report into widespread sexual abuse and cover up within the Pennsylvania Catholic Church. … Today’s Order allows predator priests to remain in the shadows and permits the Church to continue concealing their identities.

In the release, Shapiro noted that the order does not prevent the Dioceses from sharing the names of the redacted names with the public and “call[ed] on the Bishops to do so immediately, consistent with their recent calls for transparency.”