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Louisiana court upholds ‘lookback window’ in win for Catholic abuse victims | Louisiana

A Louisiana state appeals court has upheld the constitutionality of a law temporarily suspending filing deadlines for people seeking damages over long-ago sexual abuse claims, handing a victory to survivors and a setback to the Roman Catholic diocese opposing them in the case.

The ruling, from a panel of judges with Louisiana’s third circuit court of appeal in Lake Charles, is the first to uphold a 2021 law in the state which opened a three-year window for victims of childhood sexual abuse to file lawsuits for damages regardless of whether the deadline to do so had otherwise lapsed.

The law, authorizing what is legally known as “a lookback window”, is similar to the one in New York that allowed the writer E Jean Carroll to sue Donald Trump over accusations he raped her in a dressing room in the mid-1990s, even though the applicable filing deadline – or statute of limitation – had expired. A jury in May ordered Trump to pay her $2m for battery and $3m for defamation over a subsequent denial by the former president.

A man who alleges that he was sexually molested by a priest in the early 1960s is the plaintiff in the case which produced Thursday’s decision. The diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana, opposed him, arguing that a statute of limitations that was applicable to the case had passed and the 2021 law which suspended it violated the organization’s constitutional rights.

The decision written by state judge Elizabeth Pickett asserted that “the revival of claims for sexual abuse serves a compelling legitimate public interest by providing an opportunity for the most vulnerable members of our society to hold accountable those responsible for the lifelong damage they have endured”.

A statement from the plaintiff’s legal team – Richard Trahant, Soren Gisleson and Johnny Denenea – thanked Pickett for her opinion, saying it hewed closely to research that has established that the average age at which survivors of sexual abuse come forward is 52. For years, at that age and depending on the nature of their abuse, pursuing a criminal case remained an option, but it was not until the lookback window opened that civil damages became a possible remedy as well.

“The decision … is a resounding victory for all victim-survivors of childhood sexual abuse,” said the statement from Trahant, Gisleson and Denenea. “[It] caught the law up with the science.”

Attempts to contact the Lafayette diocese were not immediately successful.

The ruling – which drew one concurring and dissenting opinion each – is now expected to go in front of the state supreme court, whose judges had declined an earlier opportunity to settle the question of the lookback window’s constitutionality. In that separate case, the Catholic Holy Cross religious order had argued that it had the right to shield itself from demands for damages involving complaints whose filing deadlines had already passed but for the lookback window.

The resulting ruling from the state supreme court in June left the lookback window on the books without explicitly commenting on its constitutionality.

The Holy Cross organization had previously won a favorable ruling from a New Orleans-based federal judge named Jay Zainey who found the lookback window would unconstitutionally take away the order’s right against being compelled to deal with claims whose filing dates had otherwise passed.

That case is the subject of a pending appeal in the federal system. But, until the state supreme court weighs in, this week’s ruling trumps both Zainey’s decision and any eventual ruling by the fifth circuit court of appeal for all matters filed in Louisiana’s state courthouses.

Before issuing his ruling in favor of Holy Cross, Zainey had recused himself from litigation

Involving the Roman Catholic archdiocese of New Orleans. The archdiocese is a similar – if separate – organization to Holy Cross, given its Catholic beliefs. It even filed a brief urging the fifth circuit to uphold Zainey’s ruling in favor of the Holy Cross order, which in turn would benefit the archdiocese’s attempts to settle hundreds of clerical molestation claims that are part of its unresolved, three-year-old bankruptcy protection case.

Zainey entered his recusal after acknowledging a role in a private media relations campaign that executives of the National Football League’s New Orleans Saints helped the archdiocese mount before and after the release of a list of local clergymen whom the church considered to be credibly accused child molesters.

The 2021 law that opened the lookback window amended a 1993 statute which gave child sexual molestation victims until their 28th birthday to initiate litigation over their abuse.

It empowered any adult victim who was not yet 28 to pursue damages no matter how long they had waited to come forward. And, until June 2024, it afforded survivors who were older than 28 and hadn’t previously settled their cases the opportunity to pursue their claims in civil court.

The only entity which expressed opposition to the 2021 law at any stage was the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops. As the Louisiana news station WWLTV reported, church entities and their insurers also argued that the lookback window should not apply to any abuse occurring before 1993.

Most documented instances of the church’s clerical molestation scandal happened prior to 1993, and state legislators later made clear that the law’s intent was to create a window reviving all child sexual abuse claims regardless of when they occurred.

Summarize this content to 100 words A Louisiana state appeals court has upheld the constitutionality of a law temporarily suspending filing deadlines for people seeking damages over long-ago sexual abuse claims, handing a victory to survivors and a setback to the Roman Catholic diocese opposing them in the case.The ruling, from a panel of judges with Louisiana’s third circuit court of appeal in Lake Charles, is the first to uphold a 2021 law in the state which opened a three-year window for victims of childhood sexual abuse to file lawsuits for damages regardless of whether the deadline to do so had otherwise lapsed.The law, authorizing what is legally known as “a lookback window”, is similar to the one in New York that allowed the writer E Jean Carroll to sue Donald Trump over accusations he raped her in a dressing room in the mid-1990s, even though the applicable filing deadline – or statute of limitation – had expired. A jury in May ordered Trump to pay her $2m for battery and $3m for defamation over a subsequent denial by the former president.A man who alleges that he was sexually molested by a priest in the early 1960s is the plaintiff in the case which produced Thursday’s decision. The diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana, opposed him, arguing that a statute of limitations that was applicable to the case had passed and the 2021 law which suspended it violated the organization’s constitutional rights.The decision written by state judge Elizabeth Pickett asserted that “the revival of claims for sexual abuse serves a compelling legitimate public interest by providing an opportunity for the most vulnerable members of our society to hold accountable those responsible for the lifelong damage they have endured”.A statement from the plaintiff’s legal team – Richard Trahant, Soren Gisleson and Johnny Denenea – thanked Pickett for her opinion, saying it hewed closely to research that has established that the average age at which survivors of sexual abuse come forward is 52. For years, at that age and depending on the nature of their abuse, pursuing a criminal case remained an option, but it was not until the lookback window opened that civil damages became a possible remedy as well.“The decision … is a resounding victory for all victim-survivors of childhood sexual abuse,” said the statement from Trahant, Gisleson and Denenea. “[It] caught the law up with the science.”Attempts to contact the Lafayette diocese were not immediately successful.The ruling – which drew one concurring and dissenting opinion each – is now expected to go in front of the state supreme court, whose judges had declined an earlier opportunity to settle the question of the lookback window’s constitutionality. In that separate case, the Catholic Holy Cross religious order had argued that it had the right to shield itself from demands for damages involving complaints whose filing deadlines had already passed but for the lookback window.The resulting ruling from the state supreme court in June left the lookback window on the books without explicitly commenting on its constitutionality.The Holy Cross organization had previously won a favorable ruling from a New Orleans-based federal judge named Jay Zainey who found the lookback window would unconstitutionally take away the order’s right against being compelled to deal with claims whose filing dates had otherwise passed.That case is the subject of a pending appeal in the federal system. But, until the state supreme court weighs in, this week’s ruling trumps both Zainey’s decision and any eventual ruling by the fifth circuit court of appeal for all matters filed in Louisiana’s state courthouses.Before issuing his ruling in favor of Holy Cross, Zainey had recused himself from litigationInvolving the Roman Catholic archdiocese of New Orleans. The archdiocese is a similar – if separate – organization to Holy Cross, given its Catholic beliefs. It even filed a brief urging the fifth circuit to uphold Zainey’s ruling in favor of the Holy Cross order, which in turn would benefit the archdiocese’s attempts to settle hundreds of clerical molestation claims that are part of its unresolved, three-year-old bankruptcy protection case.Zainey entered his recusal after acknowledging a role in a private media relations campaign that executives of the National Football League’s New Orleans Saints helped the archdiocese mount before and after the release of a list of local clergymen whom the church considered to be credibly accused child molesters.The 2021 law that opened the lookback window amended a 1993 statute which gave child sexual molestation victims until their 28th birthday to initiate litigation over their abuse.It empowered any adult victim who was not yet 28 to pursue damages no matter how long they had waited to come forward. And, until June 2024, it afforded survivors who were older than 28 and hadn’t previously settled their cases the opportunity to pursue their claims in civil court.The only entity which expressed opposition to the 2021 law at any stage was the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops. As the Louisiana news station WWLTV reported, church entities and their insurers also argued that the lookback window should not apply to any abuse occurring before 1993.Most documented instances of the church’s clerical molestation scandal happened prior to 1993, and state legislators later made clear that the law’s intent was to create a window reviving all child sexual abuse claims regardless of when they occurred.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/19/louisiana-court-catholic-abuse-victims-ruling Louisiana court upholds ‘lookback window’ in win for Catholic abuse victims | Louisiana

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