Catholic Bishops Petition Supreme Court To Review Case Challenging CA’s Statute Of Limitations On Molestations

Religion News Service reports:

Catholic bishops in California have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a case challenging a state law that expands the time survivors of childhood sexual assault have to file their claims. The petition was filed by nine California Catholic archdioceses after the California Supreme Court refused to consider the case.

In 2002, California enacted a one-year window for plaintiffs to bring sexual-abuse claims against the Catholic Church and others “even if the statute of limitations had expired many decades before,” the bishops said in their petition. When that year ended, the state attempted to revive lapsed claims three more times, but former Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed each bill, the petition notes.

But Brown’s successor, Gavin Newsom, signed legislation in 2019 that allowed certain assault victims more time to bring suits, which the bishops call “an unconstitutional double-revival regime.”

Read the full article.

Photo: US Conference of Catholic Bishops president Archbishop Jose Gomez, who recently led the campaign to deny communion to Joe Biden.

“Review is critical now, before the Catholic Church in the largest State in the union is forced to litigate hundreds or thousands of cases seeking potentially billions of dollars in retroactive punitive damages,” the bishops claimed.https://t.co/PQcOotMpRf

— Alejandra Molina (@alemolina) May 5, 2022