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	Ohio Senate Votes to Aid Victims of Clergy Abuse Statute of Limitations Would Be Lengthened By Jim Provance Toledo Blade [Columbus OH] March 17, 2005 COLUMBUS - Tears stained the face of Toledo firefighter Tony Comes as the Ohio Senate yesterday unanimously approved a bill that would briefly open the courthouse doors to alleged victims of sexual abuse at the hands of clergy as long ago as 1970. It was an emotional vote, but the courts may ultimately decide whether it was a constitutional vote. The bill faces a tougher time in the House. The Senate voted to lengthen the statute of limitations for civil lawsuits involving child sexual abuse to 20 years. The clock would not start ticking until the victim reaches the age of 18, meaning litigation could remain a possibility until the age of 38. The bill also opens a rare one-year "look back" window for prior child victims who claim they were victimized years ago but were locked out of the courthouse because they were not ready to face the issue by the time the current statute of limitations expired two years after they reached adulthood. While the bill applies to all childhood sex abuse victims, the senators acknowledged they were largely talking about the Catholic church. Allegations of abuse by priests and subsequent cover-ups by the church have led to a flurry of lawsuits, out-of-court settlements, and public apologies from the pulpit. "This is recognition, while we hold separation of church and state as one of our cardinal, constitutional laws, that no one is above the law," said Mr. Comes, 34, whose story as a child victim of a priest in the early 1980s was the subject of the Academy Award-nominated documentary Twist of Faith. "What the Senate did today was demonstrate its willingness to let the process work and do the right thing," he said. His lawsuit with the church has already been settled. The Senate's stance yesterday stood in sharp contrast to recent votes in which the Republican-controlled General Assembly has tightened statutes of limitation, cracking down on what has been characterized as rampant litigation. "We will stop the cycle of abuse, generation to generation," said Sen. Teresa Fedor (D., Toledo). "We have a lifetime of children that are sentenced to shame, guilt, stripped of all their pride for the rest of their lives. It is our responsibility not to carry this over one more day." The Catholic Conference of Ohio maintains the retroactivity of the statute of limitations to cases as old as 35 years is unconstitutional. The conference does not object to the lengthening of the statute for future cases nor does it oppose a provision mandating that priests, rabbis, ministers, and other nonvolunteer church leaders contact authorities when they "reasonably suspect" abuse or neglect of a child. "The biggest issue is what is the cost going to be," said Tim Luckhaupt, conference executive director. "If everything goes through the way it is, it has a real good opportunity of bankrupting the church. I think that's the bottom line. I know people have been hurt, and I think the church is doing a good job now of screening people before they get into ministry." New York attorney Marci A. Hamilton, however, argued on behalf of victims that while it would be unconstitutional to retroactively extend the statute of limitations for criminal activity, it would not be unconstitutional to do so for civil action. She pointed to lawmakers' recent tort reform votes shortening statutes for past behavior. "How can you argue that you can shorten it on someone who might have had a vested right when it started but now you can't lengthen it for someone?" she asked. "What that would mean is you can disable the plaintiff, but you can't disable the defendant. That doesn't make any sense."
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