NY Catholic Conference pays $2.1 million to block Child Victims Act
By Rob Howard
Associate Editor
Despite decades of dealing with charges of sexual abuse of minors by Roman Catholic Clergy, the hierarchy of the church continues to have trouble dealing with the issue. In 1983 Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) announced a revision of canonical law that provided for penalties, including dismissal.
In 2001 Pope John Paul II issued a letter giving the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith expanded powers to address sex abuse cases in the church. One of the points made directed that civil law concerning reporting of crimes to the appropriate authorities should always be followed.
So it is a mystery why the New York Catholic Conference, headed by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York, and the former President of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, has spent more than $2 million on lobbying against a bill that would make it easier for child sex abuse victims to see justice, according to the New York Daily News.
According to the News, “The Catholic Conference, headed by Timothy Cardinal Dolan, has used Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker, Patricia Lynch & Associates, Hank Sheinkopf, and Mark Behan Communications to lobby against the Child Victims Act as well as for or against other measures.
“All told, the conference spent more than $2.1 million on lobbying from 2007 through the end of 2015, state records show. That does not include the conference’s own internal lobbying team.
“Filings show the lobbyists were retained, in part, to work on issues associated with ‘statute of limitations’ and ‘timelines for commencing certain civil actions related to sex offenses.’ Other issues included parochial school funding and investment tax credits.”
The Church is particularly opposed to allowing adults who were victimized as children bringing civil cases after their 23rd birthdays.
“Assemblywoman Margaret Markey, a Democrat from Queens, is the sponsor of a bill that would start the clock on the five-year statute of limitations on criminal and civil cases when victims turn 23 years old. Under current law, the clock starts ticking when the victim turns 18. Markey’s bill would also create a one-year window for victims to file civil lawsuits against abusers who are now shielded from litigation because the statute of limitations has expired,” the News wrote in 2011.
Media reports indicate that the Church spent the $2.1 million from 2007 to the end of 2015. The Church fears that lawsuits would bankrupt the Church, according to a Gawker.com article. “’We believe this bill is designed to bankrupt the Catholic Church,’ Catholic Conference spokesman Dennis Poust told the New York Times in 2009,” reported Gawker.
An anti-abuse activist criticized the lobbying efforts by the NY Catholic Conference, according to the News: “’They are willing to spend limitless money in order to basically keep bad guys from being accountable for their actions,’ said Melanie Blow, chief operations officer of the Stop Abuse Campaign. ‘I think they’re doing it because they don’t want to have to pay out settlements.’”
The lobbying effort appears to have been effective. According to the News, “Another top firm, Patricia Lynch & Associates, whose namesake had close ties to now disgraced Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, was hired by the Catholic Conference in 2009. Lynch’s firm for many years was ranked in the top 3 of well-paid lobbyists.
“Lynch’s hiring by the Catholic Conference came after the Assembly passed different versions of the Child Victims Act four times from 2006 to 2008. The measure never came up again for a vote after Lynch was hired.”
Abovethelaw.com, in covering the revelations, said, “New York is considered by child abuse victim advocates as having one of the most restrictive statutes of limitations, and there have been numerous efforts to change that, though they’ve all failed to become law.”
According to the website, the Child Victims Act is again being considered in this term of the New York Assembly.
Copyright The Gayly – June 1, 2016 @ 2:30 p.m.