PENNSYLVANIA
The Morning Call
Bill White
Amid reports that the fix is in to gut House Bill 1947, the bill that would reform statute of limitations laws in cases of child sex abuse, a group of current and former Philadelphia district attorneys issued a press release supporting the bill in its current form.
I don’t ordinarily run press releases, but I’ll make an exception, because these are people whose investigations into predators in the Philadelphia Archdiocese led to two damning grand jury reports.
I’m hearing that there’s a chance the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on the bill this week. Here’s a Philadelphia Inquirer story reporting some of the same things I’ve been hearing about the bill’s likely fate.
I’ve also heard from a West Philadelphia woman who wanted people to know that many Catholics don’t support the lobbying efforts of Catholic officials who strongly oppose the bill. Below the D.A. release, I’ll share her email, with links to some excellent comments she received in the midst of gathering 3,000 signatures.
Finally, I want to recommend that you read a great op-ed column that will appear on the mcall.com website this evening and in The Morning Call Friday. It’s by Kristen Pfautz Woolley of York, a strong advocate for the bill and a victim of abuse by a family friend when she was a child. I wrote about her a few years ago.
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