UNITED STATES
The Worthy Adversary
Posted by Joelle Casteix on September 17, 2013
The latest news from New Mexico, California, Minnesota, Hawaii, Missouri and more …
New Mexico
It’s only a matter of hours before the Diocese of Gallup, NM files the official paperwork to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Why only hours? The diocese is not reeling in debt, but Gallup Bishop James Wall and Fr. Alfred Tachias are scheduled to be deposed TOMORROW in the case of the Route 66 priest, Clement Hageman. The diocese’s own documents show that Hageman was a bad dude, and the last thing that Bishop Wall wants to do is sit in a videotaped deposition and talk about what church officials knew about abuse, hush money, and the transfer of predators across state lines (to small towns where poor Latino and Native American kids wouldn’t complain).
California
In California, victims are waiting for Governor Jerry Brown to sign SB 131, the California Child Victims’ Act. According to the Huffington Post, opponents have spent more than $250K to block the legislation. In a particularly insulting move, Rep. Diane Harkey said that the bill only “opened old wounds” and “feed[s] trial attorneys.”
As I told the Huffington Post:
The only way that old wounds are opened is when abuse is kept secret and wrongdoers are allowed to continue in abuse and cover-up. Victims are re-traumatized when lawmakers with no knowledge of the subject spout hurtful and incorrect rhetoric about the victims’ rights movement in an attempt to keep more victims silent and disenfranchised.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.