HARRISBURG (PA)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette [Pittsburgh PA]
January 25, 2023
By Jan Murphy
HARRISBURG — Child sexual abuse survivors are coming to grips with the likelihood they will endure another delay in their chance to pursue justice against their abusers and the institutions that protected them.
The state House of Representatives on Tuesday recessed until Feb. 27, a month past the deadline set by former Gov. Tom Wolf who called the General Assembly into special session to pass a constitutional amendment expanding the time allowed for victims to seek civil suits against abusers and get it before voters in the May primary.
“It’s another sad day for victims,” said Shaun Dougherty, a victim of abuse by a Catholic priest, who shared his story with the grand jury looking into widespread child sexual abuse in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese.
Survivors of child sexual abuse have been fighting for over a decade for a two-year retroactive window to seek justice against those who harmed them. It would build on a 2019 law that extended the statute of limitations for child sex abuse victims to pursue civil suits by age 55 and ended any statute of limitations for criminal prosecution of future child sexual abuse cases.
Survivors say their last glimmer of hope on getting the amendment on the May 16 ballot now rests on the fact that while the regular session is in recess, the special session is still open. But Republicans and Democrats have been unable to reach an agreement on rules to govern the session which are necessary before any other business can be conducted.
If the question doesn’t make the primary ballot, the next opportunity will be the Nov. 7 general election.
Voters were close to having the chance to ratify the change in 2021 but a clerical error by the Department of State derailed that effort. That resulted in the lengthy amendment process having to start over again.
A proposed constitutional amendment must pass both chambers of the legislature in two consecutive sessions before it goes to the voters for approval. In addition, the wording of the question must be drafted and advertised statewide three months ahead of the next election. State department officials have said completing those tasks requires two to three weeks.
House Speaker Mark Rozzi, D-Berks County, himself a child sexual abuse survivor, made passage of this amendment a priority for the House to pass before taking up any other legislative business. However, it came to the House from the GOP-controlled Senate as part of a package.
The Senate added unrelated amendments mandating voter identification at polls and removing the governor’s veto power of regulations that the General Assembly dislikes. The additions made the package unpopular with Democrats despite their support for the statute of limitations reform.
Last Thursday, Mr. Rozzi announced the recess of the House to a nearly empty chamber and hit the gavel hard before exiting the rostrum. Attempts to reach Mr. Rozzi for comment Tuesday morning were unsuccessful.
Michael McDonnell, a spokesman for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said he suspected a delay was on the horizon once they “started to see that tornado happen” in the Senate with other amendments getting added.
He said not only does it postpone the chance for survivors to see justice against their abuser and the institution that protected them, it also is preventing “the public from becoming aware of who predators may be and the institutions who enable them. Communities are safer when this information is made public and that starts with a civil process to make those names known.”
Over the years, opposition to the two-year retroactive window has been mounted largely by the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, the insurance industry and several business lobby groups. They argued that the measure would be detrimental to their interests and singled them out unfairly.
Earlier this month, the Susquehanna Valley Center for Public Policy issued a research report that estimated that as many as 100,000 claims could be filed against Pennsylvania school districts. If all the claims were successful, it could cost taxpayers as much as $32.5 billion, although critics have argued that figure is inflated.
Dougherty expressed frustration over the Senate’s decision to force survivors to accept concessions in order to achieve the justice they seek by tacking on additional constitutional amendments. But it is not enough to make him give up the fight.
“I’m not the kind of guy who will quit,” Mr. Dougherty said. “Things change when people show up and we’re going to keep showing up and eventually this change is going to come to Pennsylvania.”
First Published January 24, 2023, 5:32pm