A proposed bill in California is supposed to be about Childhood sex protection. It isn’t.
It is a “Come sue the Catholic Church out of existence”
The bill would give those people for whom the already extended statute of limitations had already run out on year to sue employers over alleged sex abuse. But get this, this bill targets only private institutions, the church, and exempts public schools and other institutions. In other words, it is a sue the Church bill.
The proposed law would lift the statute of limitations for one year for the group of alleged victims who were 26 and older and missed the previous deadline.
The Catholic Church did not fight the 2002 bill that opened the flood gates for hundreds of victims and led to $1.2 billion in settlements from dioceses statewide, including $660 million in Los Angeles alone. This time, however, the church is fighting hard against the proposed legislation — from the pews to lobbyists.
The 2002 law led to settlements that also forced the Los Angeles archdiocese to make public earlier this year thousands of pages of confidential files kept on priests accused or suspected of abuse.
…
In Los Angeles, Archbishop Jose Gomez urged local Catholics to contact their legislators, arguing in the church newsletter that the proposed change “puts the social services and educational work of the Church at risk.”The LA archdiocese and other private institutions fear the reform would make them vulnerable to cases like those brought against the church following allegations of clergy sex abuse more than a decade ago.
“Our hearts can bleed and feel sad for those who didn’t come forward, but the purpose is good and fair public policy,” said Ned Dolejsi, executive director of the California Catholic Conference, which represents the California Catholic Conference of Bishops.
The AP story quotes a man who never sued when he had the opportunity even though it was all the rage at the time and now has allegedly recovered suppressed memories.
Yeah.
July 17, 2013 at 1:22 pm
One law for all to abide by. No more laws tht apply to people and not CEOs. No more laws that exempt politicians. No more prejudice and bias in the letter of the law. All are equal in the eyes of God and all laws should be written to apply equally. Either everyone gets the statute lifted or no one. But enough attacking or giving preferential treatment to things through the legal system.
July 17, 2013 at 3:18 pm
Let's see, what is the sexual abuse rate in schools…? High, relatively speaking.
July 17, 2013 at 3:30 pm
Although California is nominally a state, the federal government has suppressed state laws frequently. In this case, the federal courts should invoke the 14th Amendment.
Say, Hillbilly, wonder what the sexual abuse rate is among 'bloggers. A school is an abstract concept; only human abuse other humans.
July 17, 2013 at 3:30 pm
Or, rather, humans.
July 17, 2013 at 4:27 pm
I hate to say this but the Modernists in the Church, which St Pius X wisely warned us about, brought this whole thing onto the Church themselves. The Modernists were the ones who opened the doors to effeminate priests, who feminized the Sacraments, the Liturgy, etc. etc.
And now we are reaping what sowed, and are continuing so to do.
Back in the 1930s several priests were already warning Rome about the number of homosexuals who were turning up in the Jesuit order. Rome decided to wait it out at the time and, of course, it only got worse. So here we are.
Until Rome frankly comes back to her senses vis-a-vis doctrine, liturgy, discipline, letters, architecture, music, etc. this awful situation will only get uglier and uglier.
July 17, 2013 at 5:29 pm
Mack Hall – Bloggers may be abusers as individuals but we aren't an institution in the same way that school systems or churches are. Schools and churches have structures of management and responsibility and they are focuses for the physical gathering of human beings, which really isn't that abstract. An abuser is a human, true, but he/she can and do manipulate the structures to gain access and provide opportunity.
July 17, 2013 at 6:34 pm
Actually this is just more government prograzism specifically designed to target Catholics. Without priests there are no sacraments. The government considers them "all" guilty, even when innocent! Can anyone say without doubt, satan is running benchmark politics?
July 18, 2013 at 12:07 am
I think if you do your homework, you will find that there is a pre-existing Federal law protecting federally funded public schools from most lawsuits. Additionally, if you read the bill currently being considered, I doubt if you will find ANY language providing an exemption for public schools. Please feel free to publish what you find as I would be very interested.
July 18, 2013 at 8:43 am
Name this federal law, Doug, and please tell us all why my school district had to pay out between $10,000 and $100,000 per settlement in the 15 lawsuits brought against it for a bus accident.
If this federal law that you assert to exist did protect schools from lawsuits when they enable and cover up child molesters, but not when their buses get in accidents, then I'm pretty sure that would be the exact kind of irrational, unfair law this post is talking about.
But, of course, it doesn't exist, and you don't actually know what the California bill in question says. If you did, you would quote it to us, rather than using irrealis-mood particles like that you "doubt".
July 18, 2013 at 1:43 pm
Dear "Sofia's Favorite":
First, that's what I'm asking. What does the bill actually say? How does it exempt public schools? See, I'm going on a nearly 20 year old memory here, but I recall discussing tort suits against the military and educational establishments in a constitutional law class at IU. The challenge was to figure out how to get around a specific law which severely limited the type of torts which could be filed against these federally funded institutions, so as to address internal civil and human rights violations.
So, given an admittedly vague memory of tort suits against federally funded institutions being severely limited, and seeing as how we don't yet actually have any language from the proposed bill, the possibility that we're looking at a misinterpretation has to be addressed and, if possible, dispensed with.
Finally, I encourage you in your continued struggle with Asperger's. I have never encountered anyone who so ably conveyed how utterly, socially-inept they were with only one sentence. Please keep going to those appointments, and remember, Cognitive-Behavioral-Therapy benefits everyone!
July 19, 2013 at 11:53 pm
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July 20, 2013 at 12:01 am
Aw, did I hit a nerve, when I called you on your combination of unwarranted self-righteousness with porcine ignorance?
Asperger's comparisons are Godwin's law for people who don't think comparisons to Hitler are actually insulting. So you've got that going for you, pig.
I actually restrained my impulse to call you out on how well you demonstrated your ineptitude with basic literacy, reasoning, and debating skills, but thanks for demonstrating I should've gone with my first impulse. So here it is. Ahem.
"Who's reading you this blog? Do they write exactly what you tell them to, or do they paraphrase so it looks like it was written by a grownup?"
And now I can add, "Kudos to you for trying new things! I don't know if 'street theater on the theme of senility' is the best use of your new Internet connection, but it's certainly good that you're keeping your mind active, in a way!"