Tony Nunziato for NY State Assembly - Catholicism Becomes Issue in Queens Assembly Race

The bill, which Markey introduced into the Assembly, would lift for one year the filings of decades-old claims of sexual abuse by a minor against businesses, not-for-profits, and religious organizations (read the Catholic Church).

It would expose the Church and other not-for-profit groups such as the Boy Scouts of America to almost impossible to defend against claims that extend back 40, 50 or 60 years. And as the New York State Catholic Conference has pointed out, it “does absolutely nothing to protect a single child in New York State from sexual abuse. Instead it is designed to enrich trial lawyers by targeting private institutions…”

The conference further stated, “It is unfair and bad public policy when governments exempt themselves from lawsuits of a kind that can bankrupt their private counterparts when engaged in exactly the same behavior.”

Studies have shown that public schools are the most frequent sites of sexual abuse outside the home and yet Markey’s bill would exempt them.

Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio in his Tablet column of July 5 explained that “…the (Markey) bill seems to distinguish between private and public institutions. This provision seems to strike at the heart of equity. Why then does Markey’s legislation allow for civil suits going back decades against the church but not include the necessary statutory amendments to permit victims in public schools” to file similar claims?

The answer, says Nunziato, is that “Assemblywoman Margaret Markey does not represent Catholic values. We need someone in Albany who does.”

Read more here: Catholicism Becomes Issue in Queens Assembly Race, The Tablet, November 1, 2008