Very angry about SB 131 in California being veto'd. After finally making my peace about losing my right to sue the third party responsible for my abuse so many years ago, I was contacted by my attorney a few months ago. He said that it was possible that my case would go forward with the introduction and passing of Senate Bill 131 in California.
SB 131 was an amendment to extend the current statute of limitations for lawsuits against private, third party entities i.e. employers who knew or had reason to know that childhood sexual abuse was going on.
SB 131 made it all the way to the governor. Jerry Brown (D), a former seminary student, veto'd the bill on the grounds that it was unfair and mainly targeting the Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts of America, and other non-profit, private institutions. It was alleged that while private employers would be forced to pay compensation, the bill did nothing to hold public institutions liable.
Accordingly, public institutions are held to a far higher standard than private when it comes to criminal background checks. In other words, a potential teacher or other public employee must go through a stringent background check that entails fingerprinting and national DOJ database searches, among other investigation. The Catholic Church maintained for DECADES that they did NOT have to comply with such stringent character screenings for it's employees. In effect, priests and other staff where hired strictly on the basis of character references from other churches, and affiliates of the church.
I don't know a lot about politics and legislation, but it may help if people contacted California legislators to ask their help in overriding the Governor's veto of SB 131.
Thank you for all your help and attention to this matter.
SB 131 was an amendment to extend the current statute of limitations for lawsuits against private, third party entities i.e. employers who knew or had reason to know that childhood sexual abuse was going on.
SB 131 made it all the way to the governor. Jerry Brown (D), a former seminary student, veto'd the bill on the grounds that it was unfair and mainly targeting the Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts of America, and other non-profit, private institutions. It was alleged that while private employers would be forced to pay compensation, the bill did nothing to hold public institutions liable.
Accordingly, public institutions are held to a far higher standard than private when it comes to criminal background checks. In other words, a potential teacher or other public employee must go through a stringent background check that entails fingerprinting and national DOJ database searches, among other investigation. The Catholic Church maintained for DECADES that they did NOT have to comply with such stringent character screenings for it's employees. In effect, priests and other staff where hired strictly on the basis of character references from other churches, and affiliates of the church.
I don't know a lot about politics and legislation, but it may help if people contacted California legislators to ask their help in overriding the Governor's veto of SB 131.
Thank you for all your help and attention to this matter.
