![[file photo] Rev. Anthony Evans, President of the National Black Church Initiative interviewed by the Media](http://www.vinnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/rev.jpg "rev")
Albany, NY – The National Organization for Women and a prominent group of African-American clergy threw their support Monday behind a controversial bill that would temporarily lift the statute of limitations on lawsuits alleging sexual abuse of children.
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The legislation sponsored by Assemb. Margaret M. Markey (D- Maspeth) and State Sen. Thomas Duane (D- Manhattan), would give people alleging abuse as children a special one-year window to file suit in civil court, regardless of how long ago the abuse occurred. The statute of limitations on future cases also would be extended.
The bill is opposed by powerful interests, including the Catholic Church, which has called it discriminatory and likely to spur dioceses to file for bankruptcy.
The New York chapter of NOW backs the Markey bill because one-in-four women are sexually abused as children and often find themselves in abusive relationships as adults. “This legislation is about protecting children, helping victims and holding offenders accountable … We must halt the ability of predators and their enablers from using the technicality of the statute of limitations to block child-sex abuse cases,” said chapter president Marcia Pappas.
Her comments came toward the end of an hour-long news conference in the capital on Tuesday staged by Markey and Duane. They were surrounded by three dozen abuse victims and their advocates.
“Abuse against children is violence,” said the Rev. Anthony Evans, president of the 34,000-member National Black Church Initiative. “I don’t represent a god who condones violence. It is a shame we have to fight against the [Catholic] church in this. It breaks my heart … but we will stand with you,” he added, referring to sex abuse victims.
Markey said she was “cautiously optimistic” that her bill would be approved by both houses of the legislature and signed into law by Gov. David A. Paterson, though he has said he supports rival legislation. The Markey bill has passed the Assembly three times previously only to die in the then-Republican-controlled Senate
Good for them. I only hope that the false accusations are minimal and that this wider net catches every single perverted predator possible and puts them in prison where they can’t get near any innocent women and children.
When I daven… I ask Hashem to help us round all of these people up. And I mean all of them… Jews and goyim and lock them away until they are too old to harm anyone again. Yidden can be comfortable in prison where they can learn all day in a library (so long as they are non-violent) and never again be a threat to our children.
Uh… This bill has nothing to do with locking up abusers.It is (primarily)about suing third parties for money.It will NOT allow criminal charges against the actual perpetrator.
FInd me a better bill, and we can talk. We need to hit the abusers, and the enablers whereever we can. Future generations will thank us for it.
Where are the prominent rabbis?
This proposed legislation will identify child molestors, even if they can not be criminally prosecuted, at the very least, they will publicly be identified. Thus, the children that they would have molested tomorrow can be protected. Should victims somehow be compensated, all the better. Also, institutions that hid and harbored knwn molesters will rightfully be held accountable. Do not forget, that any allegations must be presented in a court of law and that a judge will have to okay any cases to filed. Frivolous cases will plainly be thrown out.
This bill is clearly discriminatory. The Markey bill leaves unamended the 90-day period wherein a minor who was abused in a public school must file suit; it opens the door for one year to those victimized in a Catholic school to file suit, even if the crime occurred decades ago. The one sponsored by Assemblyman Vito Lopez does not discriminate between public and parochial schools. The Catholic-hating NOW hags I can understand, but why is this man Evans supporting action against the Church? You have to wonder what his agenda is.
Rape by religious leaders, a mafia style hush up by the Vatican to keep this secret and harming the victims again. Imagine, today lying about why they moved priests around instead of the reality so the children wouldn’t see them, identifying them. T
The Vatican took care of the adult child rapist and threatened the small children. The child had to now deal with threats of harm to self and family, alone and in silence. This is a religion with special independent rights granted to them by our country, by families? A religion. What kind of vicious, child hating and selfish human beings could demand silence by writing and enforcing a document to demand silence by excommunication? Hit me where more compassionate, they didn’t harm children.
Today many traumatized children are traumatized adults, many with permanent mental disabilities to never live a normal life. Anyone who defends this religion against the victims should should be judged with the abusers and those who covered it up.
No one hates the catholic church. People hate child rapists and those that protect them.
Shame on those who claim their religious should not be punished. Shame on those who say “they did it too” in order to try to minimize the rape of small children.