San Diego Diocese asks judge to void abuse suit law

San Diego, California -

The Diocese of San Diego asked a federal judge to declare unconstitutional a California law that extended the statute of limitations on legal claims in sexual abuse cases.

In court papers filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, the diocese and the Sisters of the Precious Blood, an Ohio-based order of nuns, argued that the 2002 law is unconstitutional because it unfairly targets the Roman Catholic Church. According to the diocese, the Legislature ignored the alarming rates of abuse at schools and other institutions that serve children.

The California law opened the door to nearly a thousand claims that have been brought against Catholic entities in California over decades-old allegations of sexual abuse. The San Diego Diocese is facing about 100 lawsuits.

The motion came in the case of Melanie H., a woman who claimed she was molested as a child by a priest at St. Mary's Parish in Escondido, north of San Diego, from 1975 to 1980. The request to void the California law has the full support of all the bishops in the state, according to a statement by the diocese.

Read te article at AP Wire Dated May 13, 2005

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