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| Gov. Brown Vetoes Bill Widening Statute of Limitations on Childhood Sex Abuse
By Jessica Calefoti
The San Bernardino Sun
October 15, 2013
http://www.sbsun.com/government-and-politics/20131014/gov-brown-vetoes-bill-widening-statute-of-limitations-on-childhood-sex-abuse
SACRAMENTO >> Gov. Jerry Brown sharpened his veto pen over the weekend, rejecting almost half the bills left sitting on his desk since the legislative session ended a month ago.
He scrapped 30 bills, including a highly controversial measure that would have extended the statute of limitations for some childhood victims of sexual abuse. The bill was carried by state Sen. Jim Beall, D-San Jose, who lashed out Sunday at the decision and accused the governor of ignoring the plight of those impacted.
In not signing the bill, however, Brown took the time to pen a rare, three-page veto message, writing that statutes of limitations are vital to preserve fairness no matter how valid a claim of mistreatment might be because, over time, evidence may be lost, memories fade and key witnesses die or move away.
“There comes a time when an individual or organization should be secure in the reasonable expectation that past acts are indeed in the past and not subject to further lawsuits,” he said.
He also criticized Beall’s bill for failing to hold public entities accountable for their employees’ past acts. It aimed to close a loophole in existing law that barred some victims from filing suit against private employers that protected or should have known about their abusive employees.
Under current law, victims who turned 26 before 2003 were not able to file lawsuits against private employers under a 2002 law that afforded that benefit to other victims. But Brown argued in his veto message that legislation failing to treat public and private entities equally is not fair.
“The children assaulted by Jerry Sandusky at Penn State or the teachers at Miramonte Elementary School in Los Angeles are no less worthy because of the nature of the institution they attended,” he said.
Beall called the criticism unfair and said he introduced a bill with limited scope because he expected it would have the best chance of getting signed into law. He called the governor’s “policy paper” on the importance of statutes of limitations a step backward for the state and a smack in the face for victims.
Beall said Brown had declined to speak directly with him about his bill, adding that he suspects the governor hasn’t spent much time speaking with sex-abuse victims either.
“Saturday was a sad day for sexual abuse victims, who clearly got the message that the governor is not on their side,” said Beall, who believes his legislation could have helped hundreds of victims who have so far been denied their day in court.
Victim’s-rights advocates had lobbied fiercely in favor of the bill, while nonprofit groups, private schools and the Catholic Church battled against it, spending millions on lobbyists throughout the legislative session.
Rev. Gerald Wilkerson, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, said in a statement that one of the main reasons he opposed the bill was that it failed to help all victims, adding that the church has done plenty in recent years to prove its commitment to sex-abuse victims.
“We hope the way the Catholic Church in California has responded to the abuse crisis over the last 10 years and ‘walked the walk’ with respect to protecting young people and reporting allegations to law enforcement helped play a role, too,” he said.
Contact: jcalefoti@bayareanewsgroup.com
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