A Fight for Justice

Times Ledger
June 3, 2016

http://www.timesledger.com/stories/2016/23/editorial_2016_06_03_q.html

State Assemblywoman Marge Markey refuses to give up. For a decade she has pushed the state Legislature in Albany to pass the Child Victims Act, which would remove the statute of limitations on underage sexual abuse cases.

Her bill made it through the Assembly this session for the fourth time, but it never has been brought up for a vote in the state Senate.

This time looked like it might be different. The Maspeth Democrat took her fight to the Legislature as “Spotlight” won the Oscar for Best Picture for its accurate portrayal of the Boston Globe’s investigation into the Catholic Church’s coverup of priests molesting children. The film aired the scandals that have plagued the church to an appalled national audience.

In May, the Democratic minority failed in its bid to force the state Senate to vote on the measure, which may mean that it’s moribund with only two weeks left in the current session. GOP senators blocked the bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Brad Hoylman, a Manhattan Democrat, on the grounds it would unleash a flood of unverified claims of sex abuse.

The current law gives child sex abuse victims up until age 23 to file a lawsuit. The Markey/Hoylman bills would create a one-year window for people claiming to be victims to sue over incidents that happened decades ago.

“Our current statute of limitations protects the wrong people,” Markey said. “It gives a free pass to predators and those who hide them, but most often denies justice to their victims.”

In her 10-year campaign, Markey has faced a powerful opponent, the Catholic Church, which fears the one-year window would encourage so many suits that it could be driven into bankruptcy.

The Daily News reported the Catholic Church had spent $2.1 million on influential lobbying firms to stop passage of legislation with easier timeline restrictions on child sex abuse cases. The church backs extending the statute of limitations to 10 years and opposes an open window.

The church wants to settle these cases in private far from public scrutiny, but errant priests have been the predators and the church should not be able to withhold justice from the victims.

This is morally unacceptable.

Markey is determined to end barriers to child sex abuse cases. It’s the right time and the right thing for GOP senators to support her efforts now that the Assembly has acted responsibly yet again. The new law would hold the individuals and institutions accountable for the damage that has been inflicted on the most vulnerable members of our society.