NEW YORK
Albany Times Union
By CAROL DeMARE, Staff writer
First published: Thursday, March 2, 2006
Dennis Poust of the New York State Catholic Conference took issue with comments last week in LawBeat by Mark Furnish of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.
The state Court of Appeals held that the statute of limitations could be used as a defense by Roman Catholic dioceses against attempts by victims of clergy sexual abuse to bring civil claims long after the abuse occurred.
The cases before the high court were from Utica and Brooklyn, but the ruling applied statewide and Furnish said it ``effectively closed the courthouse doors'' on victims and the only hope was for state lawmakers to provide relief by removing limitations statues.
As co-founder of the regional chapter of SNAP and a member of its national board, Furnish is lobbying the Legislature for legislation similar to bills passed in California and Connecticut.