[Vision2020] Cover-Ups, Justice and Reform

[Art Deco]

  [image: The New York Times] <http://www.nytimes.com/>

<http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_click.html?type=goto&opzn&page=www.nytimes.com/printer-friendly&pos=Position1&sn2=336c557e/4f3dd5d2&sn1=fece77b1/ee0ef894&camp=FSL2012_ArticleTools_120x60_1787509c_nyt5&ad=RubySparks_June13_120x60_noText&goto=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Efoxsearchlight%2Ecom%2Frubysparks>

------------------------------
July 8, 2012
Cover-Ups, Justice and Reform

The guilty verdicts in two major child sex abuse cases, and the e-mails
revealing the extent of the cover-up in one of the cases, the Penn State
nightmare, could be more than just examples of justice delivered — if they
provide impetus for new accountability and deterrence.

The cases — the conviction of Jerry Sandusky for the sexual assault of
children under his care, and the conviction of Msgr. William Lynn for
helping to cover up cases of abuse by priests — contain lessons for
combating abuse and the cover-ups that often follow.

Children who are sexually abused can take many years to speak about their
ordeals, if they ever do. Much of the evidence for the cover-up in the Lynn
case came from victims barred from bringing criminal charges or civil
claims under the applicable statute of limitations.

Existing laws need to be recalibrated to make them more protective of
children and less protective of adults who prey on them. In New York, Gov.
Andrew Cuomo and state legislative leaders have failed to heed rising calls
for such reforms. But some other jurisdictions are beginning to take
action.

In June, Louisiana enacted a whistle-blower law that will allow people to
report child sex abuse to law enforcement officials without risking getting
fired for it — a reaction in part to the Sandusky case.

A groundbreaking measure just approved by the Judiciary Committees in both
chambers of New Jersey’s State Legislature would wipe out the civil statute
of limitations for filing child sex abuse complaints, including for victims
for whom the current time limit has expired. Approval by the full
Legislature is a strong possibility. (New Jersey’s limits on criminal abuse
filings ended years ago.)

In Pennsylvania, a less ambitious plan that would eliminate the statute of
limitations for criminal liability and extend it for civil cases just
passed the Judiciary Committee of the state’s House. It awaits further
action.

Laws should encourage reporting of abuse and fairness for victims.
Unrealistic, arbitrary time limits for filing cases subject the victims to
yet another injustice.


-- 
Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
art.deco.studios at gmail.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20120709/e85eb09d/attachment.html>