SAN DIEGO (CA)
The Press-Enterprise
11:26 PM PDT on Thursday, September 8, 2005
By MICHAEL FISHER / The Press-Enterprise
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.