Opponents to Urge Governor to Veto 'Discriminatory' Sex Abuse Damages Bill

By Valerie Schmalz
Catholic San Francisco
September 11, 2013

http://www.catholic-sf.org/ns.php?newsid=29&id=61716

Opponents are mobilizing to convince Gov. Jerry Brown to veto sexual abuse damages legislation that they say is discriminatory and imperils non profits, Catholic social services, private and parochial schools and poor parishes.

The Senate approved Senate Bill 131 21-8 with 10 no votes on Sept. 6. The Assembly passed it Sept. 4 by a vote of 44-15 with 19 abstentions.

The bill would open non profits and religious institutions to civil liability for alleged sexual abuse that occurred before Jan. 1, 2004, but for which victims only discovered injury after that date.

However, those abused in public schools or by someone in a government agency would not be able to sue for damages under the legislation, opponents said. The abusers themselves would also be exempt from civil suit during the one-year waiver of the statute of limitations which would begin Jan. 1, 2014.

In addition to the Catholic organizations, non-profits as diverse as the YMCA, Little League, Boy Scouts and private schools could face additional abuse claims.

“We cannot stand silently by while the state imposes crushing financial burdens that imperil our inner-city schools, neediest parishes and social services for the poor while exempting public employers from the same level of responsibility,” San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone said in a YouTube video to principals and priests before the Legislature’s final vote approving the bill.

After the bill was passed, sponsor Sen. Jim Beall, D-San Jose, said in a press release: “I want to thank my colleagues who had the courage to stand up for the victims of sexual abuse despite intense opposition. California must not retreat in the fight against child abuse.”

“We’re going to make the best case possible to the governor about the unfairness of the law,” said Steve Pehanich, director of advocacy for the California Catholic Conference. The conference is the public policy arm of the state’s bishops.Pehanich said SB 131 “is poor public policy; it is discrimination against victims.”

“There are not two classes of victims and there are not two classes of justice,” Archbishop Cordileone said. The Catholic Church is willing to support legislation that would impose the same standards on all, he said.

In 2003, the state of California created a one-year window that waived the statute of limitations, leading to massive settlements with victims by Catholic dioceses who encouraged anyone who might have been harmed to come forward for what it believed was a one-time event.California dioceses paid damages of more than $1 billion.

The bill would re-open a window to file claims for damages of child sexual abuse which occurred before 2004 but for which the statute of limitations has expired.

SB 131 would also lower the standard of evidence for damages and extend the time allowed for filing so that other than having turned 26 before 2003, the only prerequisite for filing a claim would be that the plaintiff “discovered the cause of his or her injuries” after Jan. 1, 2004, the California Council of Nonprofit Organizations told senators.

Since 2003, most nonprofits and the Catholic dioceses and their charities self-insure so any awards would require selling additional assets, including property, and might require shutting down agencies, officials said. Catholic Charities CYO is one of the largest providers of services to the needy in the archdiocese.

SB 131 would force private schools to defend claims that may be 40 years old but forbid victims from suing any public school for abuse that may have occurred before 2009, said the Council of Nonprofit Organizations, which includes the California Catholic Conference. “To add insult to injury, SB 131 even protects the actual abuser from being sued – the only claims that are revived are against private employers and nonprofit organizations,” said Ned Dolejsi, executive director of the California Catholic Conference.

Organizations opposed include the California Police Activities League, California State Alliance of YMCAs, California Association of Private School Associations, California Association of Joint Power Authorities, Pacific Union Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.Ё