Clergy Sexual Abuse Legislation in New York
It now appears as if the New York State legislature will not be passing legislation that would extend the Statute of Limitations for bringing a lawsuit for victims of sexual abuse. Currently a person has until the age of twenty-three to bring a lawsuit. The new legislation would have extended it to age twenty-eight and would have given everyone, regardless of age, one year from the enactment of the law to bring such a lawsuit.

When the complexion of the New York State Senate changed from Republican to Democrat, it was widely expected to join the State Assembly in passing this law. It now appears that when the law seemed to have a real chance of passing, pressure by the Catholic Church convinced many legislators, previous sponsors of the legislation among them (!!), to oppose the bill. The position of the church was that it would bankrupt the church, as it had apparently done previously to the Diocese of San Diego, after California passed a similar bill.

The sponsor of the legislation has vowed to pursue the passage of the bill and believes it still has a real chance of eventual passage, sooner rather than later.