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	Victims in Law Statutes of Limitation Must End So Sexual Abuse Victims — Not Predators — Are Helped By Marge Markey and Marci A. Hamilton Albany Times Union October 28, 2007 http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=634005&category=OPINION&newsdate=10/28/2007 First published: Sunday, October 28, 2007 There is an ugly secret in New York law: As currently structured, it favors child predators over their victims, childhood sexual abuse survivors. It does so by arbitrarily setting the statutes of limitations, so survivors are locked out of the courthouse. Survivors typically need decades to come forward and, in New York, the statutes of limitations are unduly complicated and short. Since the survivors cannot get their claims into the legal system, their predators are not named to the public and, therefore, can continue to operate under the cloak of anonymity. That is precisely what they do, into old age. Every state, at one time or another, had such arbitrarily set rules affecting survivors. But there is a national grass-roots movement opening the legal system to survivors at the expense of perpetrators. The movement is demanding the elimination of statutes of limitations for childhood sexual abuse in the future and advocating what is called "window" legislation in older cases. The latter makes it possible for those survivors whose claims have expired to go into court and make civil claims against the abuser and those who assisted in the abuse for a set period of time. In 2002, California passed a one-year window; in July, Delaware put into effect a two-year window. The result in California was heartening, as more than 300 previously unnamed predators were publicly identified once their victims were no longer stymied by this artificial deadline. In New York, similar legislation has been passed by the Assembly for the past three years with no meaningful opposition. Sadly for survivors, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno has inexplicably blocked its movement. This is legislation that should be a no-brainer, unless the Legislature is inclined to continue to assist those entities and individuals who cover up their complicity in child abuse. That is a move no elected official should ever be permitted to make. Statutes of limitations typically are intended to keep stale claims out of court, but they are not constitutionally required. Murder has no statute of limitations, because the crime is so heinous and the victim is unable to pursue justice. Contract and property claims can have relatively short statutes of limitations because all of society benefits by default rules that tell us who owns what. Childhood sexual abuse is much closer on the spectrum to murder than contracts. The crime is especially odious, and the victim has a difficult time seeking justice with any alacrity. Giving child predators peace of mind over potential liability is an indefensible public interest. Those who have opposed legislative reform to aid childhood sexual abuse survivors such as the Roman Catholic Church, teachers and defense attorneys have argued that statutes of limitations are dearly needed to avoid old claims. Of course, the underlying reason is that such legislation will disclose to the public secrets they had always hoped to hide. But the plaintiff still bears all the burdens of a typical claim; the only difference is the timing of the lawsuit. The older the evidence, the harder for the plaintiff to prove the claim, though we have learned from the California experience that many employers have rather pristine employee files that reveal their knowledge of the sexual proclivities of an employee, the employers' failures to report the crimes to the authorities and to shield children from known predators. The age of a case does not necessarily dictate the strength of the survivor's claims. Nevertheless, there is a crying need to make the opportunities for victims to get a shot at justice. A variety of studies have found that in the United States at least 20 percent of boys and 25 percent of girls are abused. The vast majority of these victims are abused by family or family acquaintances. But far too many of these crimes go unreported for many years only 10 percent of victims go to authorities and most of the offenders escape responsibility. When victims finally and courageously speak up, they are denied justice as arbitrary statutes of limitations prohibit them from seeking legal recourse. One incest victim told us she finally came to terms with her abuse when she was in her 40s and contacted her father to tell him she was going to sue him. His response? "Don't be silly I have the benefit of the statute of limitations." There is a woman who deserves the benefit of window legislation, and there are millions like her across the country. It is shameful most states have had such short statutes of limitations on childhood sexual abuse, the victims have been foreclosed from justice while predators enjoyed a system that protected their interests first and foremost. California and Delaware are showing the rest of the country the more heroic and noble path to follow. New York and the other states must get in step. Marge Markey is a Democratic assemblywoman from Queens. Marci A. Hamilton holds the Paul R. Verkuil Chair in Public Law at Yeshiva University's Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.
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