GREEN BAY (WI)
Post-Crescent
Gannett Wisconsin Newspapers
GREEN BAY — Clergy and churches would lose their civil liability shield in sexual abuse cases under a law proposed by a northeast Wisconsin state senator and endorsed by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
At a news conference Thursday, Peter Isely, SNAP’s Midwest director, threw his group’s support behind the initiative introduced by state Sens. Alan Lasee, R-Rockland, and Timothy Carpenter, D-Milwaukee, that would allow priests, pastors and churches to be named in civil suits seeking damages for abuse.
Lasee’s bill and a companion Assembly measure would allow a one-year window for victims to file civil claims of abuse. Wisconsin law prohibits civil claims against clergy and their supervisors, Isely said.