TRENTON (NJ)
NorthJersey.com
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
By JOHN CHADWICK
STAFF WRITER
TRENTON - The Assembly, acting against the wishes of the Roman Catholic Church, overwhelmingly approved a change Monday to New Jersey's powerful and zealously protected charitable immunity law, making it easier for sexual-abuse victims to sue religious and charitable institutions.
The 63-5 vote, with nine abstentions, came after nearly an hour of emotional debate, with supporters speaking of the horrors that victims of clergy abuse had endured and opponents warning the change would cause financial distress to the church and other non-profit institutions.
"In all of my time here in the Legislature, I have never felt more strongly about any piece of legislation," said Patrick Diegnan, D-Middlesex, who voted for the bill.
Diegnan declared during the session that although he had been raised by devout Catholics, he found it "incomprehensible that [the Catholic Church] and other institutions are now seeking to hide behind a shield."