PENNSYLVANIA
PennLive
By Ivey DeJesus | idejesus@pennlive.com
In a three-hour long hearing steeped in references to Pennsylvania case law, the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday heard expert testimony on the validity and viability of proposed legislation that would change how child sexual predators are prosecuted.
The hearing, which tipped markedly in favor of opponents of House Bill 1947, was held in a hearing room packed with victims advocates as well as past victims of sexual abuse. Many of them wiped away tears as a cadre of expert witnesses – with the exception of one – argued how the Pennsylvania Constitution prohibits the General Assembly from retroactively altering expired statutes of limitations.
The hearing, which featured five expert witnesses, only one testifying in support of the bill, focused on the constitutionality of the bill, which would impose lookback measures for past victims of abuse, including those molested by priests as children.
Much of the testimony centered around the state’s constitutional remedies clause, which ostensibly bars the General Assembly from retroactively altering expired statutes of limitations.
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