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Legal Matters| Volume 37, ISSUE 5, P282-284, September 2018

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Can You Keep a Secret?

Published:August 07, 2018DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amj.2018.07.003
      Benjamin Franklin wrote that “Three may keep a Secret, if two of them are dead”

      B. Franklin, Poor Richard, 1735. An Almanack For the Year of Christ 1735. By Richard Saunders, Philom. Philadelphia: Printed and sold by B. Franklin, at the New Printing-Office near the Market.

      and that may be true unless 1 of them is your doctor, your wife, or your priest. If someone tells you something in confidence, are you required to reveal that secret in certain circumstances? Are you required to disclose a confession when a patient confides in you that they killed someone? What do you do when you come home one day and your husband is counting hundreds of thousands of dollars that he tells you he got from robbing a bank? What if you've been stealing narcotics to sell them and one of your “customers” dies of an overdose, making you feel guilty enough to confess the crime to your parish priest; are you off the hook?
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      References

      1. B. Franklin, Poor Richard, 1735. An Almanack For the Year of Christ 1735. By Richard Saunders, Philom. Philadelphia: Printed and sold by B. Franklin, at the New Printing-Office near the Market.

        • Saunders W
        The Seal of the Confessional.
        (Accessed June 20, 2018)
        • Code of Canon Law, Book IV
        Function of the church (Cann. 834 - 848). Part I. The sacraments, title IV, the sacrament of penance (Cann. 959 - 997), chapter II, the minister of the sacrament of penance, Canon 983 §1.
        (Accessed June 20, 2018)
        • Code of Canon Law, Book IV
        Sanctions in the church liber VI. De sanctionibus in ecclesia, part II. Penalties for individual delicts, title III. Usurpation of ecclesiastical functions and delicts in their exercise (Cann. 1378 - 1389).
        (Accessed June 20, 2018)
      2. People v Phillips (NY Ct of Gen'l Sessions 1813) reprinted in 1 Western L. J. 109 (1843) and 1 Cath. Law. 199 (1955).

      3. People v Christian Smith, 2 New-York City-Hall Recorder 77 (June 1817).

      4. Totten v United States, 92 US 105 (1875).

        • Bloom BL
        Know the law before you confess confidential information to your clergyperson.
        (Accessed June 20, 2018)
      5. 18 USC § 4 - US Code - Unannotated Title 18. Crimes and criminal procedure § 4. Misprision of felony.

        • What is physician-patient privilege and why is it important
        (Accessed June 20) (Accessed June 20, 2018)
        • David M.
        ROGERS, Appellant, v The STATE of Nevada, Respondent. No. 54913. Decided June 2, 2011..
        (Accessed June 20, 2018)
      6. Trammel v United States, 445 US 40 (1980).

        • Marital privilege, Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School
        (Accessed June 20)
        • Texas Health and Safety Code, Title 9, Safety, Subtitle B, Emergencies, Chapter 773, Section 091, Confidential Communications
        (Accessed June 20, 2018)
        • Texas Health and Safety Code, Title 9, Safety, Subtitle B, Emergencies, Chapter 773, Section 092, Exceptions
        (Accessed June 20, 2018)

      Biography

      John R. Clark, JD, MBA, NRP, FP-C, CCP-C, CMTE, is the chief operating officer of the International Board of Specialty Certification (IBSC) and legal advisor for the International Association of Flight and Critical Care Paramedics (IAFCCP).