WHITE PLAINS (NY)
New York Law Journal via Marsh Law Firm
April 7, 2020
State lawmakers took a pass last week on extending a one-year legal window that allowed survivors of child sex abuse to sue over decades-old allegations.
The Child Victims Act, enacted last year, opened up the time frame for victims of child sexual abuse to file lawsuits over claims that were previously barred from court due to the statute of limitations.
The legal window is set to close in August, but New York’s court system is no longer accepting CVA lawsuits under new restrictions spurred by the deadly coronavirus pandemic. The state’s court system has postponed all “nonessential” services and the CVA lawsuits were not listed as essential under an order from Lawrence Marks, the state’s chief administrative judge.
Those orders have effectively placed a hold on new litigation under the act, but the Legislature did not move to lengthen the so-called look-back window in the state budget, which is the keystone legislative package of the year in Albany and is often used as a vehicle for large non-fiscal policy measures.
The coronavirus crisis has upended normal business at the Capitol, but legislative leaders have said they need to continue their work in some fashion. It remains unclear whether legislators will greenlight an extension to the CVA later on this session.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.