Society of Jesus v. Commonwealth

In connection with criminal charges brought against Talbot, the Commonwealth issued a subpoena duces tecum seeking documents from Talbot’s personnel file. Both Talbot and the Jesuits moved to quash the subpoena with respect to some of the documents. They argued that the records were protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and analogous provisions of the Massachusetts Constitution, and by certain other privileges (priest-penitent, psychotherapist-patient, and attorney-client) and the work-product doctrine. A judge in the Superior Court allowed the motion in part,…