ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) 鈥� The Supreme Court of Maryland heard arguments on Tuesday about the constitutionality of that ended the state鈥檚 statute of limitations for child sexual abuse lawsuits following within the Archdiocese of Baltimore.
The arguments, which lasted several hours and often veered into highly technical legalese, largely focused on the intent of the Maryland legislature when it passed a preceding law in 2017 that said people in Maryland who were sexually abused as children could bring lawsuits up until they turned 38.
Teresa Lancaster, an abuse survivor and an advocate for others, said she was optimistic after what she heard in the courtroom.
鈥淭hese crimes have harmed many, many people. We deserve our day in court. We deserve justice, and I鈥檓 very, very enthusiastic from what I heard today,鈥� Lancaster said outside the courthouse.
A ruling from the state鈥檚 highest court is expected in the coming months.
Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, signed the Child Victims Act into law last year 鈥� less than a week after the state鈥檚 attorney general released a report that documented rampant abuse committed by Baltimore clergy spanning 80 years and accused church leaders of decades of coverups.
The report, which is nearly 500 pages, included details about more than 150 Catholic priests and others associated with the Archdiocese of Baltimore abusing over 600 children. State investigators began their work in 2019.
Days before the new law was to take effect Oct. 1, the archdiocese to protect its assets ahead of an anticipated deluge of litigation. That means claims filed against the archdiocese will be relegated to bankruptcy court, but other institutions such as Catholic schools and individual parishes can still be sued directly.
While the court鈥檚 ruling will have wide-reaching effects on child sex abuse cases in Maryland, the oral arguments Tuesday centered on a technical issue involving the earlier 2017 law change that established the cutoff at age 38.
The question at hand is whether a provision in the 2017 legislation was written in such a way that permanently protected certain defendants from liability. Answering that question likely requires the court to decide whether the provision should be considered a statute of limitations or a so-called statute of repose.
Attorneys for defendants facing liability claims under the new law contend it鈥檚 a statute of repose, which they say can鈥檛 be modified because it includes a 鈥渧ested right to be free from liability.鈥�
鈥淎s a general matter, of course, a legislature may repeal existing laws and substitute new ones. But it may not do so in a manner that destroys substantive rights that have vested under the terms of existing law,鈥� the Archdiocese of Washington wrote in a brief filed ahead of oral arguments.
David Lorenz, the Maryland director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said the archdiocese should be ashamed for 鈥渢reating survivors like some product that has some limited liability.鈥�
鈥淎nd that鈥檚 what they鈥檙e doing hiding behind the statute of repose," Lorenz said after court. 鈥淭hey should absolutely be ashamed of that, and then in the next minute they say, 鈥榃e will do whatever we can for survivors and help them through this.鈥� They are doing nothing, nothing, but driving survivors harder and harder underground, and it鈥檚 time for the survivors to come forward and start to heal.鈥�
Attorneys representing businesses, insurance companies and Maryland civil defense lawyers raised concerns in a brief about issues surrounding witness testimony and record retention in cases being filed decades after the fact.
But the most substantive arguments before the court Tuesday focused on legislative intent.
Attorneys for abuse survivors asserted that when the Maryland General Assembly passed the 2017 law, legislators did not intend to prevent future lawmakers from reconsidering the issue and altering the time limits on civil lawsuits. The law may have included the term 鈥渞epose,鈥� but that doesn鈥檛 mean the legislature wanted to make it permanent, attorneys argued.
鈥淭here is a debate between that label 鈥� statute of repose 鈥� and the actual operational function of the act,鈥� attorney Catherine Stetson told the court鈥檚 seven justices, arguing that it should consider the statute鈥檚 structure, operation and full text rather than looking at 鈥渁 word in a vacuum.鈥�
鈥淐hild sexual abuse is a scourge on society, and it often takes survivors decades to come to terms with what they suffered,鈥� victims鈥� attorneys wrote in a brief. 鈥淚t is hard to imagine a law more rationally related to a legitimate governmental interest than this one.鈥�
Some justices expressed skepticism about whether state legislators in 2017 knowingly chose language with the intention of limiting the powers of their successors.
鈥淚f it had that significance, wouldn鈥檛 you expect that there would be more explanation in the legislative record?鈥� Chief Justice Matthew Fader asked. 鈥淲ouldn鈥檛 that have popped up somewhere?鈥�
Attorneys for the Archdiocese of Washington and the Key School, a small private school in Annapolis, asserted that the legislature was unambiguous in its language.
鈥淭he General Assembly meant exactly what it said,鈥� attorney Sean Gugerty told the court. 鈥淭he plain language of the statute is what controls the analysis.鈥�
Justice Brynja Booth pointed out that interpreting the law isn鈥檛 always cut and dry.
鈥淒on鈥檛 we often look beyond a label ... to look at the characteristics to determine what it actually means,鈥� she said.
Brian Witte And Lea Skene, The Associated Press
