NEW ORLEANS (LA)
Nola.com [New Orleans, LA]
April 3, 2024
The Catholic Church has the Louisiana Supreme Court to thank for saving it from a legal reckoning after decades of clergy abuse scandals that have roiled our state.
Survivors of clergy abuse were understandably outraged last month when their voices were dismissed again. Instead, the high court sided 4-3 with church lawyers who challenged the constitutionality of laws reviving “prescribed” civil claims — that is, claims deemed expired because they weren’t filed by the statutory deadline.
In 2021 and 2022, state lawmakers unanimously passed a pair of laws that granted persons with claims of child sexual abuse a window to sue, regardless of when the abuse happened. Many who had been abused by clergy decades ago hoped they’d finally get their day in court.
At the time, the Diocese of Lafayette was vigorously fighting a lawsuit involving a St. Martinville priest. Plaintiff Douglas Bienvenu and others filed suit in 2018, outlining years of horrific abuse at the hands of Msgr. Kenneth Morvant, now deceased, at St. Martin de Tours Catholic Church. Morvant allegedly plied the youngsters with alcohol and sexually assaulted them at the rectory.
The abuse dated back to the early ’70s, so the church argued the claims had been prescribed. According to the law back then, victims had until their 28th birthday to file claims.
The Louisiana Child Victims Act gave survivors a three-year “lookback window,” beginning June 2021. The law allowed claims to be revived even if the prescription period had expired — thereby giving new life to litigation against the Diocese of Lafayette. The prescription challenge ultimately reached the Louisiana Supreme Court.
In its majority opinion, the court acknowledged that the facts of the case were “sickening and despicable.“ Nevertheless, the majority gave more legal weight to concerns about due process and “vested rights.”
In effect, the court felt that looking back would be even more perilous for abusers than it was for Lot’s wife.
It’s no secret that money drives the church’s efforts to deny its full responsibility by frustrating abuse victims’ legal claims. The Archdiocese of New Orleans filed for bankruptcy in May 2020 as it faced dozens of abuse claims in state court that could have cost it $100 million or more. It remains to be seen how the recent ruling will affect the bankruptcy case.
Though the “lookback window” was struck down, the pain and trauma that survivors have suffered remains — and the rest of us remain clear-eyed about the injustice that occurred. Considering the trauma and the pain that survivors have gone through, it is clear why the Legislature decided to give them more time to come forward.
We wish all victims grace as they heal from past wounds, and we stand by them in their ongoing struggle.