BishopAccountability.org
	Advocates Renew Push for Bill to Reform Child-sex-abuse Laws By Annysa Johnson Milwaukee Journal Sentinel November 22, 2011 http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/134334643.html Wisconsin lawmakers and advocates for victims of sex abuse are using this weekend’s Badger game against Penn State as the backdrop for re-introducing legislation that would make it easier for victims to sue their perpetrators in civil court. State Sen. Julie Lassa (D-Stevens Point) and Sandy Pasch (D-Whitefish Bay) are announcing today that they will re-introduce the so-called Child Victims Act that has failed at least twice in recent years. The measure would eliminate the statute of limitations in future cases involving the sexual assault of a child by an adult. And it would open a two-year window to refile cases in which victims were previously barred by earlier statutes of limitations. Members of SNAP, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, which has lobbied unsuccessfully for similar bills over the last two legislative sessions, will join Lassa and Pasch at a news conference this afternoon at the capitol. “The bills will bring crucial reforms to the state’s statute of limitations on civil suits in sexual assault cases involving children, and would help prevent the serial child abuse that happened at Penn State,” SNAP’s Milwaukee director, John Pilmaier, said in a statement. The measure, which is modeled after legislation passed in other states, failed to make it to the floor in the last two legislative sessions. It was opposed by Wisconsin’s Catholic bishops, the Wisconsin Conference of Churches and others who said it could financially ruin religious institutions and their ability to minister to the poor and vulnerable. It comes against the backdrop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy, in which nearly 100 people have filed claims alleged sexual abuse by clergy or employees when they were children. The archdiocese has suggested it will move to bar at least some of those claims because the civil statute of limitations has passed. State law currently bars victims from suing after they reach age 35.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.