GUAM
Pacific Daily News
Haidee V Eugenio , heugenio@guampdn.com April 11, 2017
The Archdiocese of Agana says a 2016 Guam law that retroactively lifted the statute of limitations on childhood sexual abuse cases is not only unconstitutional but would apply only to the alleged perpetrators, and not institutions such as the church.
Dozens of former altar boys have sued priests, the archdiocese, and in some cases the Boy Scouts of America in federal court, asking for millions of dollars in damages for sexual abuse they said happened decades ago, when they were children.
The Archdiocese late Monday for the first time provided the federal court with the specific reasons it believes the lawsuits should be dismissed. Its attorneys challenged the idea that the statute of limitations can be lifted retroactively and also the idea that institutions such as the church could be retroactively held liable, in addition to the alleged perpetrators.
The archdiocese’s attorneys said while not every retrospective law violates the due process clause of the island’s Organic Act, extending an expired civil limitations period can unconstitutionally infringe upon a vested right.
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