Church seeks return to one-year limit on abuse claims
San Diego, California --
California's Catholic bishops are again asking a federal judge to overturn a law that allowed hundreds of people to file lawsuits claiming abuse by priests.
The law state Senate Bill 1779 lifted the statute of limitations for 365 days on all cases of clergy sex abuse, even those that may be decades old.
"The law enacted in 2002 unfairly targeted the Catholic Church and ignored evidence of similar misconduct involving other institutions," according to a statement released by the Diocese of San Diego after its bishop, Robert H. Brom, filed a motion Thursday in U.S. District Court in San Diego.
The diocese stated it has "the full support of all the Catholic bishops in California," including the leaders of the 1 million-member Diocese of San Bernardino and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the nation's largest.
About 800 lawsuits would likely be dismissed if the law were ruled unconstitutional, plaintiffs' attorneys said. They chafed Friday at the legal challenge.
"The filing is a dishonest, unethical manipulation of the federal court, particularly in light of the stance L.A. and other dioceses have taken around the state of California, claiming they want to settle these cases," said Raymond Boucher, whose office is handling more than 300 Southern California clergy abuse cases.
Read the article at DailyBulletin.com Dated May 13, 2005
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California's Catholic bishops are again asking a federal judge to overturn a law that allowed hundreds of people to file lawsuits claiming abuse by priests.
The law state Senate Bill 1779 lifted the statute of limitations for 365 days on all cases of clergy sex abuse, even those that may be decades old.
"The law enacted in 2002 unfairly targeted the Catholic Church and ignored evidence of similar misconduct involving other institutions," according to a statement released by the Diocese of San Diego after its bishop, Robert H. Brom, filed a motion Thursday in U.S. District Court in San Diego.
The diocese stated it has "the full support of all the Catholic bishops in California," including the leaders of the 1 million-member Diocese of San Bernardino and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the nation's largest.
About 800 lawsuits would likely be dismissed if the law were ruled unconstitutional, plaintiffs' attorneys said. They chafed Friday at the legal challenge.
"The filing is a dishonest, unethical manipulation of the federal court, particularly in light of the stance L.A. and other dioceses have taken around the state of California, claiming they want to settle these cases," said Raymond Boucher, whose office is handling more than 300 Southern California clergy abuse cases.
Read the article at DailyBulletin.com Dated May 13, 2005
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