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National
Representative Council Update
The National Representative Council is finalizing
the agenda for its semi-annual Council meeting (slated
for June 2-4 in Chicago); beginning discussions on
potential new strategic and policy issues; and voting
on four formal policy statements dealing with statutes
of limitation and windows reform associated with protecting
children from sexual abuse through legislation.
Council Meeting
The Council’s Steering Committee is coordinating
the logistics and agenda for the Chicago meeting next
month. Although the agenda has not been finalized,
some of the topics to be discussed include the Council’s
interface with the Convocation Implementation team
(CIT); progress of the new bylaws being drafted by
the Board of Trustees with input from the NRC; the
election of replacements for Council members who have
resigned; updates on previous Council proposals (priests’ pension
reform and lamentation service); partnering with other
church reform groups; and suggestions for more effective
Council operations.
New Areas of Discussion
Council members have helped distribute information
about the recent financial report published by the
Archdiocese of Boston and have forwarded assessments
and comments from financial specialists to members
of the Boston Council. Other proposed new areas of
discussion include creating a policy on the deference
to be accorded affiliates in making decisions concerning
matters in local dioceses; reassessment of the Council
structure for deliberating on proposed resolutions;
and creating a strategy and policy for growth of the
national VOTF movement.
Voting on Proposed Resolutions
The Council recently opened voting on four policy
statements dealing with statute of limitations and
windows reform associated with protecting children
from sexual abuse through legislation.
Text of the Proposed
Resolution:
WHEREAS, Goal 1 of VOTF is to “support victims
of clergy sexual abuse” and Goal 3 is “to
shape structural change within the Church”; and
WHEREAS, supporting past and current victims of clergy
sexual abuse naturally extends to prevention of future
sexual abuse of children; and
WHEREAS, many states have laws pertaining to the protection
of children from sexual abuse and governing the ability
of child abuse victims to sue in civil court that are
insufficiently effective in protecting children or
providing justice for survivors; and
WHEREAS, in many of these states the statute of limitations
for criminally prosecuting perpetrators of child sexual
abuse is only a few years following the abuse, and
the time limitation on a victim's ability to file a
claim in civil court against the abuser and any abettors
is so short that most victims are not emotionally,
psychologically, or financially capable of filing a
claim within the limitation period, thus many victims
currently are already beyond the limitations age; and
WHEREAS, temporarily suspending, or permanently eliminating
retroactively, the statute of limitations on civil
claims is permitted under the US Constitution; and
WHEREAS, both the retroactive suspension or permanent
elimination of civil statutes of limitations and the
prospective elimination or extension to a reasonable
age would allow:
- Abuse survivors to have their day in civil court,
- Expose pedophiles and any who aided or abetted
them,
- Alert parents and the general public to the abuse
threat and spur them to take action to further
protect their children, and
- Put Church officials and others on notice to
strengthen their child protection efforts or
face further civil
action and unwanted publicity
THEREFORE IT IS RESOLVED THAT:
1. It is the policy of VOTF to support the reform
of state and federal laws to strengthen the protection
of children from sexual abuse, afford justice for survivors
of child sexual abuse, and hold accountable any individual
or institution that aids or abets child sexual abuse.
2. Prospectively, VOTF supports legislation either
to eliminate civil statutes of limitations on current
or new child sexual abuse cases or to extend the limitation
to an age when most survivors would be emotionally,
psychologically, and financially capable of filing
a suit, such as age 50 or older.
3. To allow survivors of child sexual abuse who are
already beyond the age allowed by statutes of limitations
for filing a civil suit, VOTF supports legislation
to either eliminate such statutes retroactively or
suspend them for a period long enough to allow these
survivors to have their day in court.
4. VOTF supports legislation to eliminate all statutes
of limitations on criminal prosecution of sexual abuse
or assault of a minor, including all such crimes classified
as felonies and all such crimes of a serious nature
even though classified under state law as misdemeanors.
* * *
Sponsors:
Judy Miller, Chair
VOTF Montgomery County Maryland
Member, Legislative Accountability Advisors, VOTF
Chuck Miller, Chair, Legislative Committee
VOTF Montgomery County Maryland
Member, Legislative Accountability Advisors, VOTF
Bob Schwiderski, Member
Twin Cities Voice of the Faithful
Member, Legislative Accountability Advisors, VOTF
Tom Byrne, Member
Cleveland-Akron Voice of the Faithful
Member, Legislative Accountability Advisors, VOTF
Frank Douglas, Region 13 (AZ, CO, NM, UT, WY) Representative
National Representative Council, VOTF
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