Motz based his 49-page ruling on a 1977 Supreme Court case that restricted damage claims against antitrust violators by claimants who were not direct customers of the defendant.

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Employers often provide some matched funds, frequently through company shares, whose sale can, as in Enron's case, be restricted.

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"I can't think of any instance in which a current Catholic prelate -- and that would include bishops and cardinals -- restricted or, in this case, promised to restrict their predecessor, " said Clohessy, who has spent 24 years monitoring sex abuse allegations against priests.

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