LANSING (MI)
The Associated Press
March 14, 2018
By David Eggert
The Michigan Senate on Wednesday passed bills inspired by the Larry Nassar sexual abuse case, voting to retroactively give the imprisoned sports doctor’s victims more time to sue, restrict governments’ ability to claim immunity from such lawsuits and require more people to report suspected abuse to authorities.
The fast-tracked legislation was sent to the House for further consideration more than two weeks after Nassar victims helped unveil it at the Capitol. Measures that would extend the statute of limitations and strip the immunity defense in certain cases had received pushback from universities, schools, local governments, businesses and the Catholic Church over the broader financial implications of facing an unknown number of suits for old claims.
“This package of bills delivers justice, justice for the children who were sexually assaulted,” said a lead sponsor, Republican Sen. Margaret O’Brien of Portage.
Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics, where Nassar worked for decades, have been sued by more than 250 girls and women. Among the school’s arguments in federal court are that many accusers took too long to sue and that it has immunity.
People sexually abused as children in Michigan generally have until their 19th birthdays to sue, which critics argue is inadequate because victims often wait to report the abuse due to fear. Under a bill approved 28-7, those abused as children in 1997 or later would have a one-year window in which to file suit retroactively — but not those abused as adults.
Prospectively, victims abused in childhood would have until their 48th birthdays to sue. For others, the three-year time limit would rise to 10 years.
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