State v. J.G.

This ease involves what has been described as the most privileged of all communications: private conversations between a penitent and a cleric. Specifically, we are called on to clarify the standard for deciding when the cleric-penitent privilege may be invoked.

In this matter, defendant J.G. and Pastor Glenford Brown spoke in private about allegations that J.G. had sexually abused his daughters. During their half-hour meeting, the two parties did not explicitly discuss whether the conversation was to be kept confidential, and each left the session with a very different understanding. Pastor…