NEW JERSEY
Jersey Journal
Monday, December 05, 2005
By JASON DEL REY
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
Even if the allegations of sexual misconduct against him are true, Monsignor Peter Cheplic can't be sued by his victims, according to a New Jersey state law that prohibits the "beneficiary" of a nonprofit organization - such as a member of a church - from suing it in court.
Such blanket immunity exists only in New Jersey, Tennessee and Alabama, and six other states have limited immunity, according to Fix The Law, a non-profit organization founded by former Bayonne resident Mark Crawford, who says he is a clergy abuse survivor.
New Jersey's law was adopted in 1958, when lawmakers rushed to enact it after the state Supreme Court abolished the centuries-old doctrine of charitable immunity. The state's Charitable Immunity Act was drafted within a week of the court decision and was enacted within three months.
In recent years, the state's Catholic bishops have defended the law, saying money donated by parishioners for charitable purposes should not be diverted to pay for lawsuits.