PENNSYLVANIA
Philly.com
A bogus hearing staged by the Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Committee last week suggested some members are determined to protect the Catholic Church and insurance companies instead of securing justice for the victims of pedophiles and the institutions that protect them.
Considering a bill passed by the House that would give abuse victims more time to file criminal and civil claims, the committee limited testimony to the question of the measure’s constitutionality. That was interesting given that committee Chairman Stewart Greenleaf’s law firm represented the Norbertine Fathers, a religious order that was sued by abuse victims, and opposed a similar statute-of-limitations bill in Delaware on constitutional grounds. Greenleaf (R., Montgomery) says he had nothing to do with the case, but he didn’t disclose the potential conflict before it was revealed by the Inquirer’s Maria Panaritis.
Greenleaf and the rest of the committee heard testimony from four lawyers who argued that the bill would run afoul of the state constitution and one who disagreed. Attorney General Kathleen Kane’s top aide, Bruce Castor, the former Montgomery County district attorney who made a secret deal not to prosecute Bill Cosby for sexual assault, was among those arguing that it’s unconstitutional. Making the spectacle more bizarre, Kane herself – who was stripped of her law license amid criminal charges that she leaked confidential grand jury information – urged the Senate to pass the bill anyway.
Kane has sanctimoniously declared war on child abusers, but when she had a chance to make a lasting impact on the problem, she took a dive by presenting this confounding dual opinion. If the bill isn’t constitutional, Kane’s office should be working with the Senate to help it pass constitutional muster.
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