UNITED STATES
Verdict
Marci A. Hamilton
Last week, the California Catholic Conference (the lobbyist for the California bishops) sent a one-page letter opposing AB1628, a bill that contains a short extension of the child-sex-abuse statutes of limitations, and requires more rigorous background checks for employees and volunteers who work closely with children. This is a letter worth a closer look, because the bishops are opposing legislation to protect children from predators in many states.
In child-sex-abuse cases involving their employees, the bishops routinely argue that the First Amendment’s Religion Clauses protect them from liability for child sex abuse. Roughly half of the states, at this point, have flatly rejected this argument, with a very persuasive opinion recently issued by the Tennessee Supreme Court in the Redwing decision. But Wisconsin, Missouri, and Utah have—unconscionably—wrapped religious organizations in a First Amendment mantle in child-sex-abuse cases.
On a parallel track, the bishops are lobbying in many states to block legal reform that would protect children from sex abuse. The most recent example of that lobbying is the letter that was sent by the California Catholic Conference in opposition to AB1628.
There are three major arenas in which legal reform is needed if we are to better protect our children. First, we must eliminate the statutes of limitations for these heinous crimes and for the tort actions needed by victims—a type of reform that I discuss in my book Justice Denied: What America Must Do to Protect Its Children. Second, we must improve the reporting of child sex abuse to the authorities. Third, we must improve background check requirements for employees who will, or may, have contact with children.
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