PENNSYLVANIA
ABC 27
By Dennis Owens
Published: June 13, 2016
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – Attorney General Kathleen Kane was the first to testify at a Senate hearing on House Bill 1947, which extends the statute of limitations for victims of child sexual abuse.
“I am here to speak on behalf of all of the children and all of the survivors of Pennsylvania,” Kane said and urged senators to vote for HB 1947.
But in a strange moment, Kane’s hand-picked Solicitor General Bruce Castor was next to testify and said that 1947 is, in part, unconstitutional. There is a provision that would let victims sue abusers and institutions even though their statute of limitations has expired. He said lawmakers do not have the power to grant such retroactivity.
“However righteous the policy goal is behind House Bill 1947, the General Assembly, in its zeal, cannot overrule a state constitutional right,” Castor said with conviction.
Basically, in layman’s terms, he’s arguing that the rules of the game cannot be changed after the game has been played. Several of the testifiers before the committee made the same case.
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