Opinion ID: 2180320
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Compelling Public Interest

Text: [¶ 66] If the first two Blount criteria are met, the burden shifts and it must be demonstrated first that the challenged regulation is motivated by a compelling public interest. 551 A.2d at 1379. The public interest associated with Fortin's claim is far greater than the public interest considered in Swanson. There, the societal interest involved the maintenance of proper boundaries between the clergy and adult parishioners in the particular context of pastoral counseling. Id. ¶¶ 2, 13, 692 A.2d at 442, 445. The claim against the Diocese in Swanson did not involve acts by a priest that might also constitute criminal offenses against a child, as is the case here. [¶ 67] In matters concerning the protection of children from physical and sexual abuse, societal interests are at their zenith. See New York v. Ferber, 458 U.S. 747, 756-57, 102 S.Ct. 3348, 73 L.Ed.2d 1113 (1982) (recognizing that the state has a compelling interest in safeguarding the physical and psychological well-being of children). The Maine Legislature has recognized that the health and safety of children must be of paramount concern and that the right to family integrity is limited by the right of children to be protected from abuse and neglect. 22 M.R.S.A. § 4003 (2004). The Diocese acknowledges that [i]t cannot be doubted that preventing the abuse of minors is a compelling governmental interest. The profundity of the individual and social harm resulting from the sexual abuse of children and society's interest in responding to the same requires little discussion. [¶ 68] When viewed in a light most favorable to the plaintiff, the circumstances asserted by Fortin invoke a compelling public interest that far exceeds the interest considered in Swanson.