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Noted Attorneys Join Connecticut Catholic Public Affairs Conference

in Opposition to Statute of Limitation Bill (House Bill 5473)


HARTFORD, CT (Wednesday, March 17, 2010) — Legal experts and social workers testified today on behalf of the Connecticut Catholic Public Affairs Conference in opposition to House Bill 5473.

The proposed Bill would eliminate time limits to file civil lawsuits for sexual abuse of a minor against Catholic and other non-public institutions.  Similar lawsuits against government entities are now barred by a doctrine called sovereign immunity.  The Bill would do nothing to change this.  The current law for Catholic and other non-governmental institutions permits claimants to delay until their 48th birthday before filing suit. 

The Connecticut Catholic Public Affairs Conference opposed the Bill on the basis of three major points:

1.  Connecticut laws should apply equally to public and private institutions that work with children.

2.  The laws should not have retroactive effect.

3.  The laws should have the effect of preventing child abuse, and permitting claimants to delay for over a generation does not prevent abuse.

Noted appellate attorney, Wesley Horton, testified that lengthening the Connecticut statute of limitations (which are the longest retroactive statutes in the nation) would undermine sound judicial principles by requiring cases to go forward on old, unreliable evidence.  In many such cases, it would involve deceased perpetrators and deceased supervisors.  Furthermore, they would make it impossible for private organizations to plan financially for unknown and unasserted claims.  He pointed out that persons and organizations need to know when they can safely dispose of records, and insurance companies need to know how long claims can be asserted when they are setting premiums.
 
Michael Culhane, Executive Director of the Conference, called for Connecticut laws to be “all in, all even.”  He explained that this means they need to apply to public and private institutions alike, they must not be retroactive, and they must function to prevent child abuse.

Martin Nussbaum, nationally known attorney, testified about childhood sexual abuse in governmental settings based upon Freedom of Information Act requests he made and upon national investigative reports by the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice and the Associated Press.  This information, Nussbaum explained, shows that governmental entities in the state have a problem of childhood sexual abuse that is both substantially greater and more current than the problem in Catholic institutions.  For example, he testified that 112 Connecticut public school teachers and coaches have lost their licenses due to sexual misconduct with students since 1992.  Nineteen Connecticut foster parents, paid by the state, engaged in childhood sexual abuse since 2006.

Nussbaum also told the Judiciary Committee that Connecticut juvenile detention facilities would not provide information regarding accusations of sexual abuse of minors by government employees.  However, the U.S. Department of Justice reported this year that 12% of young people in state juvenile facilities nationally, 3,220 persons, complained of sexual victimization during the previous 12-month period.  Most of this was by government employees.

Erin Neil, Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Director of Safe Environments, speaking on behalf of the Diocese of Bridgeport, pointed out that the abuse that has been the subject of unprecedented media coverage over the past decades principally occurred in the 1960’s.  She detailed the extensive background checks and state of the art educational training for all Catholic Church employees and volunteers as part of a comprehensive safe environment program to keep children safe.  The program not only includes mandated reporting, but trains all employees, clergy, and volunteers in primary signs of predator behavior and detection of children who are abused.

Mrs. Neil suggested that Connecticut public schools and institutions should consider adopting more consistent and comprehensive safe environment programs.

John King, an attorney from Hartford, testified that Connecticut law called “sovereign immunity” bars childhood sexual abuse claims against public school and other government entities.  He noted that this creates an unfair situation in which if two children suffered identical injuries, the one injured in a Catholic institution could proceed with his claim while the child suffering the identical injury in a public school could not. 

Msgr. John McCarthy, Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Hartford, testified about the many good works Catholic institutions do within the state with specific emphasis on Catholic healthcare, education, and social services.  He asked the Committee to consider whether imposing liability over a generation later justified diverting resources from those institutions, asking whether it is sound public policy to “hurt the helpers for such old claims?”