Bill to Expand Statute of Limitations on Sex Abuse Lawuits Stalls in N.J. Senate

By Matt Friedman
NJ.com
October 25, 2012

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/10/bill_to_expand_statute_of_limi.html

The bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Joseph Vitale (D-Middlesex), is shown in this file photo.

A bill to greatly expand the statute of limitations for sex abuse lawsuits remained in legislative limbo today after it stalled for a second time on the Senate floor.

The bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Joseph Vitale (D-Middlesex), pressed his colleagues until the last minute, but to no avail, in an effort to get the 21 votes needed for passage.

The measure (S1651) would have sharply expanded the statute of limitations from two years to 30 years for suing alleged perpetrators, institutions and their officials ruled culpable for the abuse.

A previous version of the bill, which sought to remove the statute of limitations altogether, began moving through the Legislature in December 2010 but never made it to the floor of the Senate or Assembly after facing stiff opposition from Catholic clergy.

The bill almost made it through in August, but stalled at the last minute.

Mark Crawford, New Jersey director for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, who was in the Senate chamber today, said he was disappointed but not surprised.

"We’ve seen this before," Crawford said. "The church is very influential. Our legislators have a choice. They’re going to choose to protect the children of New Jersey or they’re going to choose to protect the predators and the institution that have harbored them ... I think many of them just need to be educated more and understand."

The state does not have a statute of limitations for criminal sexual abuse cases. But in civil cases, adults who were victimized have two years from the time they realize the abuse damaged them to file suit. Under the current measure, victims would have 30 years after turning 18. Future adult victims would have 30 years from the time they realized the abuse harmed them.

In cases where the statute of limitations has already expired, adults would have a two-year window to file suit, and after that those who realized they were harmed by abuse that occurred before the bill went into effect would have 10 years to act.

The bill’s prospects are equally uncertain in the Assembly.

Although an earlier version of the measure was approved by the Assembly Judiciary Committee, Majority Leader Lou Greenwald (D-Camden) introduced a competing bill that is less strict.

While Gov. Chris Christie has not stated his posititon publicly, an account of a meeting with members of the clergy at the governor’s mansion paraphrased him as saying the "limitations are there for good reason in gathering evidence and documents."