http://nhregister.com/articles/2011/04/05/news/doc4d9a8acb13a9e095173267.txt
Catholic Church reverses course on bill to eliminate statute of limitations on sex abuse of minors By Mary E. O’Leary, Register Topics Editor
HARTFORD — Despite saying last year that it had no objection to a bill that would eliminate the statute of limitations on the sexual abuse of minors going forward, a representative of the Catholic Church Monday at a public hearing said it could not agree with the concept.
“I’m just so surprised they are opposing this. We certainly had the sense last year that they would not,” Sen. Beth Bye, D-West Hartford, said of the bill she proposed that eliminates the limitation on civil suits prospectively.
Bills that would have removed any limitation on when a suit could be brought retroactively, aimed to a large extent at the childhood victims of Dr. George Reardon, a former physician at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, failed to go forward in 2009 and 2010.
More than 100 lawsuits have been brought against Reardon, who died in 1998, and against St. Francis. Police say more than 50,000 slides of child pornography found in the home where Reardon once lived had belonged to the doctor, who practiced medicine at St. Francis for more than 30 years.
Michael C. Culhane, spokesman for the Connecticut Catholic Conference, testified last year that changing the rules retroactively was not fair. “We therefore request that any changes be prospective and not have any retrospective effect,” Culhane said in 2010.
Culhane testified Monday that the statute should encourage timely filing of claims and there is no limitation on bringing a civil claim against a convicted perpetrator of sexual abuse. Connecticut law allows civil suits to be brought up to 30 years after a victim reaches the age of 18.
The Catholic Church has paid out million of dollars to settle sex abuse cases throughout the country. Most recently, a grand jury in Philadelphia accused the archdiocese of providing a safe haven to 37 priests who were credibly accused of sexual abuse or had behaved inappropriately with children.
Culhane testified in favor of a bill that lifts the ban on childhood sexual abuse lawsuits against government entities and allows them and their employees to be held civilly liable on sex abuse cases as is now the case with private, nonpublic institutions.
“Until public institutions are held accountable for sexual assault crimes committed against minors to the same extent as their private counterparts, the necessary safeguards will not be implemented and our children will continue to be victimized,” Culhane said in his written testimony.
But when asked by Rep. Gary Holder-Winfield, D-New Haven, if he would support the elimination of the statute going forward, if lawmakers also amended the limited immunity that applies to towns and workers acting in their official capacity, Culhane said he would not.
Holder-Winfield, a victim of sexual abuse by a friend of his family when he was young boy, spoke up after watching the faces of the victims of sexual abuse when they were asked why they did not come forward earlier. “I’m an almost 40-year-old man and I have very intimate awareness” of this issue, he said. The reasons victims don’t come forward are “multiple,” he said. “It’s frustrating to listen how cavalier people are to other people’s pain,” he said, outside the hearing room. He said he spoke up to set a tone of respect for the victims.
Bye asked Culhane why no other institution, beyond the church, had any problem with the bill. Culhane said he did not know why.
Attorney Wesley Horton, hired as an expert witness by the Connecticut Catholic Public Affairs Conference, said fading memories would be a problem for suits brought decades after abuse has happened, while adequate insurance would also be problematic.
Horton said, “Societal standards change over time, especially on sensitive subjects such as sex, race and the like. ... A juror raised under today’s standards might infer the existence of sexual misconduct from such actions that a juror 40 or 50 years ago would not have inferred,” Horton testified.
A number of sexual abuse counselors and victims of abuse testified that eliminating the statute was a necessary remedy for those traumatized by the abuse. Counselor Kimberly Shellmam of New Britain, who dealt with 300 victims in the last three months, said 50 percent of the victims she helps are older than 48. “It is one of the most underreported crimes,” Shellman said.
Bye said while only four other states have removed the limit on when civil suits could be brought, 24 states have provisions that provide flexibility on such suits brought by those who may be stymied because of mental illness.
Many of the victims who came forward talked about later abusing drugs or attempting suicide until they got help. “A just system would let the victims come forward when they can. If they are not ready, they simply cannot. Abuse is a long-term disability and the burden of proof still sits with the victim,” Andrew Willis, CEO of the Stop Abuse Campaign testified.
Thom
http://thomwade.wordpress.com/
http://www.cafepress.com/Thomwade
http://www.in-one-ear.com
_______________________________________
"I want a song to learn and sing, of a life requited."-Echo & the Bunnymen
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Sent: Tue, Apr 5, 2011 9:29 am
Subject: Re: [DADL-OT] The Muslim World's Coming European Revolution
Correction:
Rather intriguing, given the past several years of handwringing from some regarding fears of Europe being overrun. Of course, our real worry should be the coming radical atheist/humanist regime overseen by Islamic extremists right here in America. ;)
Thom
http://thomwade.wordpress.com/
http://www.cafepress.com/Thomwade
http://www.in-one-ear.com
_______________________________________
"I want a song to learn and sing, of a life requited."-Echo & the Bunnymen
-----Original Message-----
From: david white <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Tue, Apr 5, 2011 8:59 am
Subject: [DADL-OT] The Muslim World's Coming European Revolution
http://www.realclearreligion.org/articles/2011/04/04/the_muslim_worlds_coming_
uropean_revolution_106230.html
The Muslim World's Coming European Revolution
y Philip Jenkins
A revolution is sweeping North Africa and the Middle East. No, not the one
ou've been hearing about in the media -- all the protests against
ictatorship and oppression, in Egypt and Tunisia, and most violently, in
ibya. The revolution I'm referring to certainly affects all those countries,
rofoundly, but its effects promise to outlast any change of regime, or even
ny new constitutions. Barely noticed by the West, many Muslim societies are
xperiencing a demographic transformation that is going to make them look far
ore European: more stable, more open to women's rights and above all, more
ecular. That change underlies all the current political upsurges.
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Rather intriguing, given the past several years of handwringing from some regarding fears of Europe being overrun. Of course, our real worry should be the coming radical atheist/humanist regime overseen by Islamic extremists right here in America. ;)
Thom
http://thomwade.wordpress.com/
http://www.cafepress.com/Thomwade
http://www.in-one-ear.com
_______________________________________
"I want a song to learn and sing, of a life requited."-Echo & the Bunnymen
-----Original Message-----
From: david white <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Tue, Apr 5, 2011 8:59 am
Subject: [DADL-OT] The Muslim World's Coming European Revolution
http://www.realclearreligion.org/articles/2011/04/04/the_muslim_worlds_coming_
uropean_revolution_106230.html
The Muslim World's Coming European Revolution
y Philip Jenkins
A revolution is sweeping North Africa and the Middle East. No, not the one
ou've been hearing about in the media -- all the protests against
ictatorship and oppression, in Egypt and Tunisia, and most violently, in
ibya. The revolution I'm referring to certainly affects all those countries,
rofoundly, but its effects promise to outlast any change of regime, or even
ny new constitutions. Barely noticed by the West, many Muslim societies are
xperiencing a demographic transformation that is going to make them look far
ore European: more stable, more open to women's rights and above all, more
ecular. That change underlies all the current political upsurges.
--
adl-ot mailing list
ttp://mail.thehood.us/mailman/listinfo/dadl-ot_thehood.us
ttp://news.gmane.org/gmane.music.dadl.ot
Thom
http://thomwade.wordpress.com/
http://www.cafepress.com/Thomwade
http://www.in-one-ear.com
_______________________________________
"I want a song to learn and sing, of a life requited."-Echo & the Bunnymen
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adl-ot mailing list
ttp://mail.thehood.us/mailman/listinfo/dadl-ot_thehood.us
ttp://news.gmane.org/gmane.music.dadl.ot
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dadl-ot mailing list
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