NEW ORLEANS (LA)
Nola.com [New Orleans, LA]
May 10, 2024
By STEPHANIE RIEGEL
In a potentially significant development for hundreds of survivors of childhood sex abuse by Roman Catholic clergy and others, the Louisiana Supreme Court on Friday agreed to rehear its recent decision striking down a law that gave abuse survivors more time to file lawsuits.
The state’s high court said it would reconsider its 4-3 decision, which ruled as unconstitutional the state’s three-year “lookback window” for filing legal claims in childhood sexual abuse cases.
The vote to rehear the case was 5-2. Justices Jefferson Hughes and James Genovese dissented. Chief Justice John Weimer said he would order oral arguments “promptly during the month of May.”
The court did not explain why it agreed to reconsider its March decision. Justices Scott Crichton and Piper Griffin were in the majority that rejected the lookback window in March but joined those in the minority — Weimer and Justices William Crain and Jay McCallum — in voting to rehear the case. A majority of the seven justices must agree.
Attorney General Liz Murrill had asked for the rehearing last month, arguing that the court’s earlier decision might violate the doctrine of the separation of powers, since Louisiana’s legislative branch unanimously voted for the lookback law. Passed in 2022, it allowed abuse survivors a three-year window to sue, regardless of when the alleged abuse happened.
Murrill called the court’s decision “a victory for child victims of sexual abuse” in a statement.
“This was the right decision – as the bill passed unanimously through the State Legislature and should be the law here in Louisiana,” Murrill said.
The archdiocese declined to comment.
The latest twist in the back-and-forth over the law is a blow to the Archdiocese of New Orleans, which filed for bankruptcy court protection in May 2020 amid mounting claims of child sex abuse by priests and deacons dating back decades. In the four years since, hundreds of abuse survivors have come forward and filed credible claims against local priests and deacons for decades-old abuse. There are now about 500 such claims.
If the law is ultimately deemed unconstitutional, many of those claims could be thrown out or determined to be ineligible for a piece of the financial settlement that will be negotiated as part of the bankruptcy to compensate survivors.
In a statement, attorneys for the plaintiffs said “we don’t have to guess” how their clients will receive the news of the rehearing.
“The hallmark of a great judge is the ability to change his/her mind when they are convinced that the law and facts require such,” read the statement from attorneys Richard Trahant, Soren Gisleson, John Denenea, Kevin Duck and Cle Simon.
Kathryn Robb, executive director of Child USAdvocacy, called it “a good day for the children of Louisiana and adult survivors of child sexual abuse. Sometimes, it takes a nudge from Lady Justice for another look to get it right!”
Hughes issued a blistering dissent of the decision to rehear the lookback window. He quoted George Orwell — “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”– in arguing that the lookback window makes for a slippery slope.
“Adult rape victims? Holocaust survivors? Descendants of the enslaved? Which of these shall we favor?” Hughes wrote.
“As far back as the Code of Hammurabi (1750 BC), civilizations have provided time limits on legal claims as an essential element of fairness. Special interest exceptions are anathema to the broader and more important concept of Justice. Equal protection means equal. Some victims of crime have teams of lawyers that proclaim, ‘The sky’s the limit.’ Some die in the dark. Pray for them all.”
Check back for more on this developing story.
Email Stephanie Riegel at stephanie.riegel@theadvocate.com.