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	San Diego Diocese Asks Judge to Overturn Law Allowing Suits Sexual Abuse: the San Bernardino Diocese Backs the Move. No Ruling Was Made By Michael Fisher mfisher@pe.com Press Enterprise [Riverside CA] September 8, 2005 SAN DIEGO - Attorneys for the Diocese of San Diego arguing to overturn a 2003 state law that permitted hundreds of lawsuits squared off Friday with attorneys for clients who claim to have been molested by priests. U.S. District Court Judge William Hayes did not immediately rule on the diocese's challenge, which is backed by the Diocese of San Bernardino, to invalidate the law that temporarily lifted the statute of limitations for child-sexual-abuse lawsuits for one year. The challenge arose as part of a pending federal lawsuit filed by a Pasadena woman who claims a priest and other workers at an Escondido church repeatedly raped and molested her as a child in the 1970s. Attorneys for both sides have agreed that Hayes' ruling likely will affect only the Pasadena woman's lawsuit and will not set a precedent that could unravel the more than 800 clergy-related abuse cases in California state courts over the past three years, including at least 20 cases that name the Diocese of San Bernardino. Some lawyers however have suggested that the judge's decision, if appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, could ultimately nullify or validate the law. Three state judges have issued past rulings upholding the law, which specifically allows institutions such as the Roman Catholic Church to be sued for allegedly protecting abusive employees. At Thursday's hearing, J. Michael Hennigan, an attorney for the San Diego Diocese, called the revised law discriminatory and unconstitutional, saying it unfairly expects the church to be able to effectively defend itself against decades-old accusations of wrongdoing, some dating back as far as 70 years. "The Catholic Church is the target of this legislation," Hennigan said as San Diego's Bishop Robert Brom and a handful of listened in the courtroom. "It is an economic holocaust on the church. . . . We're asking the law be abolished." Marci Hamilton, an attorney for the Pasadena woman, countered, saying there is nothing to show that the Legislature intended to persecute the Catholic Church by approving the law in 2002. "The statute treats the Boy Scouts and the 4H Club and the church identically. Any organization that was overseeing children is subject to the law," Hamilton said. She argued that the law is constitutional. In the past, state law gave purported victims of childhood sexual abuse until age 26 to sue. Typically, those cases could only be filed against the accused abuser, and not an institution such as a church. The 2003 law allows molestation victims to sue within three years of when they realize they suffered childhood sexual abuse. It also allows institutions such as a diocese to be sued if the victim can show its members knew of an abuser's potential to molest, if they failed to take steps to protect victims, or if they hid facts from potential future victims. It also opened a one-year window for purported victims to refile cases that had been previously dismissed because the statute of limitations had expired. In a 25-page brief filed with the court, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer argued that the law does not violate the church's constitutional protections, saying it does not single out the Catholic Church but could be used by individuals suing the Boy or Girl Scouts or other agencies over claims of childhood sexual abuse. The judge grilled a deputy attorney general on why the law did not expose public entities, such as public-school districts, to such lawsuits alleging decades-old sexual abuse. "Hasn't the state said it is going to open this liability to certain private institutions . . . but we aren't going to allow ourselves to be sued?" Hayes asked. The Diocese of San Bernardino, which encompasses Riverside and San Bernardino counties, joined the California Catholic Conference in backing the San Diego Diocese's bid to overturn the state law. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has also filed court papers supporting the effort to invalidate the law. More than 20 lawsuits have been filed alleging sexual abuse by 14 Catholic clerics or religious brothers who worked in the Inland area since the mid-1950s. Seventeen of those pending cases involve the Diocese of San Bernardino and, in most instances, the Diocese of San Diego which managed the Catholic parishes in Riverside and San Bernardino counties until the San Bernardino Diocese was created in late 1978. Faced with an avalanche of abuse cases involving clergy, state court officials assigned the Southern California cases to a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge more than two years ago, splitting the 140 cases brought against the San Bernardino and San Diego dioceses from the more than 550 cases filed against the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the Diocese of Orange. Instead of heading for courtrooms, the cases are in limbo as attorneys meet behind closed doors to try to hammer out settlements. No trial dates have been set. In December, the Diocese of Orange settled 86 pending cases for $100 million. Reach Michael Fisher at (951) 368-9470 or mfisher@pe.com