COLORADO
Denver Post
By Eric Gorski
Denver Post Staff Writer
Facing intense lobbying pressure from the Roman Catholic Church, Democratic lawmakers said Saturday they are crafting legislation that would make it easier to sue not only churches and private entities but also public schools when adequate steps are not taken against child molesters.
State Rep. Terrance Carroll, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and House Majority Leader Alice Madden, D-Boulder, say House members are putting together legislation that would create a new exception to the state's governmental immunity law, which puts up barriers to suing schools and other public bodies.
Madden said the legislation would crack a hole in the immunity shield to make it easier to sue public schools that keep known child molesters employed, move them from school to school or protect them in other ways.
Said Carroll, D-Denver: "If we are concerned about child abuse and if there is a school district that has protected a child abuser, we need to hold them accountable."