HB 963: Sexual Abuse Case Where about
It is important to determine whether your sexual abuse case is viable or not, is a little complicated. You have to check the viability under the statute of limitations and every state has different laws for sexual abuse cases. Usually, in many states, before the victim turns 55, he or she can register a case for abuse in the catholic church or against any other organization.
Determining whether you are viable or not, is a bit challenging. It is not very simple and might require a little effort.
It is important to know that in many states, the statue of liberty was changed from age 30 to age 55 in 2019, in Pennsylvania. This means that if your case was barred in 2019 and you turned 30 that year, the new law will not be implied to your case. The new law was not active till that time and thus, all the cases before that will follow the old regulations. However, one must never lose hope as victims have been fighting in Pennsylvania to remove the statute of limitations from sexual abuse cases.
The lawyers of Andreozzi + Foote have advocated for a two-year window, in which the statute of limitations would be suspended. During this two-year window, the victim will be allowed to seek justice, no matter what his age. However, sadly, this window wasn’t approved as the opponents argued that it would be unconstitutional to pass this. Therefore, Rep. Mark Rozzi, who has been a Clergy abuse survivor for a very long time, teamed up with Rep. Jim introduced HB 963. With the help of HB 963 law, the survivors will be given a two-year window to pursue their civil cases. As this window was a constitutional alteration, the opponents were unable to argue.
In December 2020, Lisa Baker, the senate judiciary chairwoman promised the abuse victims that the window is a top priority and it will be considered first hand, in the judiciary meeting of 2021. She also stated that the age and other limitations are horrific as an abuse victim needs a lot of time to deal with this horrific event in their life. Furthermore, she said that Calgary abuse and all other types of horrific abuse events have started to surface more and more over time, and adding an age limitation to it, is dreadful. It is now suspected that by the end of February 2021, a final vote will be stated for this window which will get passed and will add ease to the lives of victims in Pennsylvania.
HB 963 has been under consideration for the past 2 years and the sexual and celery abuse victims are in hope that it will be accepted sooner or later. It can add confidence in people to stand up for themselves as soon as they are out of their traumas.
