PENNSYLVANIA
The Morning Call
Bill White
State Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Stewart Greenleaf, R-Montgomery, has been under steady fire since last week’s committee hearing on whether the statute of limitations reform bill for child sex abuse cases is constitutional.
Testimony focused on the part of House Bill 1947 that retroactively extends the statute for civil child sex abuse cases from 30 years old to 50. All but one of the five lawyers who testified at the hearing said that provision would be struck down by Pennsylvania courts because of the state constitution’s “remedies clause” and more than a century of court decisions and that it should be removed from the bill.
Critics have complained that Greenleaf rigged the hearing by not balancing it with more people who feel the retroactive provision is constitutional, including the Delaware state solicitor, who was on hand to testify about the way Delaware’s similar law survived a constitutional challenge.
Greenleaf pointed out that a University of Pennsylvania law professor also was prepared to testify to the bill’s constitutionality but ended up having a conflict and couldn’t attend. His written testimony was included in the record.
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