Civil Procedure
Sex-Abuse Scandals Prompt States to Open ‘Window Laws’
Posted Jun 11, 2009 10:54 AM CST
By Molly McDonough
High-profile sex-abuse scandals that have rocked schools, churches and communities across the country have led to new efforts to allow victims windows of time to seek redress in civil court.
Two states in particular—California and Delaware—have passed "window laws" that temporarily open civil courts for victims to air grievances that are sometimes decades old. And New York is considering joining them, the Wall Street Journal reports.
But the WSJ says there are concerns about extending a state's statute of limitations because evidence can become stale and memories fade. Many times the alleged perpetrators are dead or retired.
"It's almost impossible to defend the cases," Mark Chopko, former counsel for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, tells the WSJ.
Then there's the issue of fairness. "If 25 years have gone by and a defendant can be sued, there's an aspect of this that can seem unfair," Yale law professor Peter H. Schuck is quoted saying.
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Comments
Timely
Jun 11, 2009 11:36 AM CST
It’s not unfair if the defendant’s very actions in abusing and intimidating the plaintiff helped to cause the delay in the first place.
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CJ
Jun 11, 2009 11:51 AM CST
We don’t have a statute of limitations for murder and many of these crimes are just as bad; however, given that there is a living victim here and often no physical evidence, Grand juries and judges should examine old allegations very carefully before even indicting.
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B. McLeod
Jun 11, 2009 1:22 PM CST
It seems to me that certain organizations that decided to basically become complicit in the conduct for decades have little room to complain about unfairness due to delay. Nobody forced them to participate in coverups, or shuffle bad actors from state to state to keep them out of the hands of the criminal courts. The argument that persons in certain lines of mummery should not be subject to the jurisdiction of civil and criminal courts has no place in modern society. To the extent that some institutions seem to have failed to note the passing of the Medieval period, lawyers and courts are going to have to bring the point to their attention.
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Do it
Jun 12, 2009 9:58 AM CST
I’m not opposed to this at all! I think the statute of limitations for certain crimes, particularly abuse, molestation, and rape should be extended anyway. As a victim, it can take YEARS of therapy to even have the courage to report that kind of thing.
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Caroline
Jun 13, 2009 9:01 AM CST
The statute of limitations for sex crimes should be extended anyway, and if we’re talking about the civil court and not criminal, then frankly there isn’t much that’s unfair about it. Certainly not more unfair than someone actually being violated. Our society is infinitely more likely to actually let someone off the hook for a crime they did commit than not, as it relates to sex crimes, so I fully support this measure with the hope that it helps bring some peace to the survivors.
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