Pa. Senate slams window shut in victims’ faces
The Pennsylvania Senate last week did what they too often do best. They recessed.
They packed their bags and fled Harrisburg. After all, half of them are running for re-election in a couple of weeks.
But they left behind a bit of unfinished business.
And some frustrated members. And the hopes of the victims of childhood sexual abuse that they may finally get a chance at justice.
The Senate was debating legislation that would have opened a two-year “window” for past victims of sexual abuse to file suit against their molesters and the institutions that enabled – and protected – them.
Instead they got the window slammed shut in their face.
The Pennsylvania House had passed H.B. 261, which would eliminate the statute of limitations on criminal charges in cases of sex abuse, and also expand the period when victims could file civil actions. Right now state law mandates a victim file an action by age 30. This bill would expand that window until age 50. But only for future cases.
That’s why state Rep. Mark Rozzi, D-Berks, added a controversial amendment that would have lifted the cap for filing actions for two years. Many experts believe victims of childhood sexual abuse do not come to grips with their ordeal until well into adulthood, long after they turn 30.
The measure passed overwhelmingly in the state House, and had considerable support in the state Senate, including the backing of two Delaware County Republican senators, Sen. Tom Killion, R-9 of Middletown, and Sen. Tom McGarrigle, R-26 of Springfield.
But the measure was vehemently opposed by the Catholic church and the insurance industry. Republican leaders in the state Senate also opposed the measure, fearing it would not pass constitutional muster. Instead they backed a plan that would see the Catholic church set up a special Victims Compensation Fund that would be administered by a third party. Eventually state Sen. Joe Scarnati, R-25 of Jefferson County, offered a compromise that would allow victims to sue priests that had abused them, but not the church itself.
Both solutions were rightfully mocked by victims and advocacy groups who have waited for years for the opportunity to face their abusers in a court of law. This is as close as they got.
And then state Senate Republican leaders slammed the window shut in their face.
Now it appears the process will have to start all over again in the next legislative session. After pushing that boulder all the way up the hill, victims and their supporters looked on as it rolled all the way back to the bottom again.
The push for opening a window for victims took on a new level of widespread support after the latest grand jury report on abuse by Catholic priests in six Pennsylvania parishes. The results were hauntingly familiar to previous probes that uncovered problems in both the Philadelphia and Altoona-Johnstown dioceses. But the latest report spearheaded by Attorney General Josh Shapiro seemed to strike a nerve. The damning findings showed clear evidence of more than 300 priests who abused at least 1,000 children for decades. Even worse, it again underscored something seen before, that church officials were complicit in policies meant to protect the church, not help the young, innocent victims of sexual abuse.
In fact, one of the recommendations made by the latest grand
jury was specifically that state law be modified to allow victims of decades-old abuse to have their day in court.
Forget their day in court. This time they couldn’t even have their day in the Pennsylvania. Despite widespread support, the bill never made it to the Senate floor for a vote.
Both Killion and McGarrigle issued angry responses aimed at their own party leaders.
“There’s absolutely no excuse for this,” Killion said. “We are denying justice for victims who have suffered immensely.”
McGarrigle vowed to sponsor legislation for a two-year window as the first order of business in the next session.
Shapiro put it a bit more bluntly.
“They stood with the powerful institutions over the people of Pennsylvania,” the attorney general said of the move by Senate GOP leaders. “They turned their backs on these victims.”
But it was left for Rozzi, himself a victim of abuse at the hands of his parish priest as a child, to put the bitter lack of action in the proper perspective.
“And they call themselves leaders,” Rozzi said in a guest column that appeared on these pages Monday. “What cowardice that Sens. Joe Scarnati and Jake Corman couldn’t bring the statute of limitation reform bill up for a vote.”
Rozzi is asking the Senate to come back into session and vote on the measure.
Otherwise the effort will have to start all over again in January with a new session, which no doubt will also feature new members. The negotiations, arm-twisting and vote tabulations will have to start all over again.
And the anguished wait for justice for the victims will go on.
That’s what happens when you get the window slammed shut in your face.