Action Alert Update
Unfortunately, the Senate passed SB 131 this afternoon (9/6/13). The bill now goes to the Governor.
We will post more information, including the official vote record, early next week. The Catholic Legislative Networks response to Action Alerts has been excellent. Thank you for that support.
Visit www.cacatholic.org for current alerts on this or other important bills.
This week, SB 131 passed the Assembly (44 Ayes, 15 No's and 19 not voting). Last May, the bill passed the Senate with only one vote to spare. It must now return there for concurrence on some amendments.
Even if you have already done so, please click Take Action again to let your Senator know about your opposition to SB 131. And this time, ask your friends to do the same! We must stop this bill now!
Please use the following link: http://capwiz.com/cacatholic/issues/alert/?alertid=62719011 or go to our parish website for more information.
Summary and Background
There are not two classes of victims; there should not be two classes of justice.
SB 131 (Beall, D-San Jose) is a controversial measure that would temporarily eliminate the civil statute of limitations for a select minority of child abuse victims - but prevent the overwhelming majority of victims from ever getting their day in court. It barely passed the Senate and Assembly.
The bill says one thing and does another. It says it helps victims and protects children when in reality it does nothing for most victims, nothing to most abusers and makes a mockery of equal protection under the law.
The bill says one thing and does another. It says it helps victims and protects children when in reality it does nothing for most victims, nothing to most abusers and makes a mockery of equal protection under the law.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->SB 131 will prevent most of today’s victims from ever getting their day in court. Victims who were abused by teachers or other public school workers are not covered by the bill. Public schools cannot be sued for any abuse that took place before 2009.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->SB 131 protects the actual abuser from being sued. The change in statute of limitations only applies to private or non-profit employers like the YMCA or the Church. It does not apply to public schools, other public agencies or even to the perpetrator.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->SB 131 only applies to private and non-profit employers - like private schools, the Catholic Church, the YMCA, Little League and other, similar organizations.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->SB 131 does nothing to increase criminal penalties against the actual abuser. The bill increases penalties on private employers, but not on the perpetrator himself. SB 131 proposes no increase in prison time, and more importantly, no increase in the criminal statute of limitations that would let victims get the justice they deserve.
The California legislature already passed a similar measure 10 years ago which eliminated the statute of limitation for a one year window (2003) resulting in lawsuits against private and Catholic employers – some of which dated back more than 50 years. SB 131 would restart that process again.
http://capwiz.com/cacatholic/issues/alert/?alertid=62719011
Source: Archdiocese of Los Angeles - Make Your Voice Heard