NEW YORK
New York Law Journal
By Jeff Storey
New York Law Journal
September 28, 2012
Marci Hamilton, a professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, stepped out of the Ivory Tower onto the public square to decry what she sees as the widespread cover-up of child sexual abuse by institutions like Pennsylvania State University, the Roman Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts of America.
Hamilton represents victims of abuse in court and lobbies for changes in state statutes of limitations that would make it easier for victims to sue. Frequently quoted in the media, she has appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and accompanied one of her Penn State clients to a taping this week in Los Angeles of The Dr. Phil Show.
Hamilton has taught at Cardozo since 1990, specializing in constitutional law, the First Amendment and religion and the law. She has two master’s degrees, one in philosophy and one in English, from Penn State and a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of God vs. the Gavel: Religion and the Rule of Law (Cambridge, 2005) and Justice Denied: What America Must Do to Protect Its Children (Cambridge, rev. 2012).
Q: One of your academic specialties is church-state relations. Do you think organized religion has a disproportionate influence on public policy in the United States?
A: Our elected representatives have a history of being overly deferential to religious leaders and lobbyists, with tragic results for children. Until recently, there was a tendency to assume that there is an equation between religion and the protection of children, which is a mistake. Christian Scientists have lobbied the federal and state governments for exceptions to the medical neglect laws, making it easier for faith-healing parents to let their children suffer, be permanently disabled, and even die. Catholic and Mormon hierarchies have lobbied for exceptions to child abuse reporting statutes, and Catholic bishops continue to lobby aggressively against statute of limitations reform for child sex abuse victims, so that the victims cannot go to court.
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