Pennsylvania Grapples with Constitutionalilty of Sex Abuse Bill

By Tony Romeo
CBS Philly
June 13, 2016

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2016/06/13/pennsylvania-grapples-with-constitutionalilty-of-sex-abuse-bill/

A state Senate committee Monday tackled the question of whether a bill that would allow retroactive lawsuits by adults who were sexually abused as children would hold up under the Pennsylvania constitution.

The Senate is considering a House-passed bill that would eliminate the criminal statute of limitations in future cases, and would give victims of child sex abuse more time to bring civil cases. One provision would allow victims to bring civil suits even in cases where the statute of limitations has already expired.

Bruce Castor, now second-in-command to Attorney General Kathleen Kane, told the Senate Judiciary Committee that provision would violate the Pennsylvania constitution.

“The General Assembly, in its zeal, cannot overrule a state constitutional right,” Castor said.

But Marci Hamilton of Child USA argued that the bill would be constitutional.

“If this body wanted to help victims it could,” Hamilton said.

The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says he aims to have the panel vote on the bill before the legislature’s scheduled summer recess.