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Letters of support are needed for AB 2295 by April 16th!

This is the last day to register your support in the Assembly Public Safety Committee's official record before the first policy hearing on April 23, 2024. 

AB 2295, authored by Assembly Member Dawn Addis, would eliminate the statute of limitations going forward in criminal cases being brought against perpetrators of child sexual assault. This will allow child victims to seek justice, get these perpetrators off the streets, and thereby prevent more child sexual assaults. It will also create a public record of these offenders so churches, youth organizations, and communities can take the appropriate steps to prevent their access to children. You can find a fact sheet about AB 2295 here.

We request your support for SB-894 (Min): Sexual Exploitation by a Member of the Clergy. This bill would bring California in line with 13 other states and the District of Columbia in establishing criminal statutes for sexual exploitation of adults by clergy, similar to existing laws governing sexual relationships between therapists or doctors and their patients. The current gap in protection leaves many individuals without the necessary support and resources to address the trauma and harm caused by these actions.

SB-894 aims to rectify this by extending legal protections to adults who are sexually exploited by members of the clergy. By recognizing and addressing the specific dynamics of power and trust inherent in these relationships, this legislation seeks to provide avenues for justice and support for victims abused by members of the clergy as adults.

The hearing for SB-894 is scheduled for April 9, 2024, and we are eager to secure letters of support as soon as possible.

SNAP Call for Action to Support California AB 2295

Elimination of Statute of Limitations for Child Sex Abuse Crimes

Request for Emails and Letters to California Assembly Members on the Public Safety Committee 

AB 2295, authored by Assembly Member Dawn Addis, will likely have its first policy hearing in the Assembly Public Safety Committee in late March. We need to write letters to the Committee Members NOW urging their Yes vote on this bill!

Last chance for restitution!

The Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California has set a final deadline of February 20, 2024, for the Archdiocese of San Francisco to receive claims from survivors of sexual abuse by clergy or others. If you did not file a lawsuit in the recently closed civil window, this is your last chance for restitution. If you were abused before August 21, 2023, and you have not filed a lawsuit or do not file a claim and the bankruptcy proceeds to its conclusion, you will be permanently barred from taking action against the Archdiocese. Additional information is pasted below.

Last chance for restitution!

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Maryland, has set a final deadline of May 31, 2024, for the Archdiocese of Baltimore to receive claims from survivors of sexual abuse by clergy or others. This is your last chance for restitution. If you do not file a claim and the bankruptcy proceeds to its conclusion, you will be permanently barred from taking action against the Archdiocese.

Last chance for restitution!

The Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California has set a final deadline of February 20, 2024, for the Archdiocese of San Francisco to receive claims from survivors of sexual abuse by clergy or others. If you did not file a lawsuit in the recently closed civil window, this is your last chance for restitution. If you do not file a claim and the bankruptcy proceeds to its conclusion, you will be permanently barred from taking action against the Archdiocese. Additional information is pasted below.

Last chance for restitution!

The Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California has set a final deadline of October 20, 2023, for the Diocese of Santa Rosa to receive claims from survivors of sexual abuse by clergy or others. If you did not file a lawsuit in the recently closed civil window, this is your last chance for restitution. If you do not file a claim and the bankruptcy proceeds to its conclusion, you will be permanently barred from taking action against the Diocese. Additional information, and the link to file a claim, is pasted below.

Charlie Macko of Berkeley, California, raised over $2000 "Running for SNAP" this summer! We are very grateful for his efforts on our behalf, and we also hope that some of you might consider doing something similar.

Last chance for restitution!

The Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California has set a final deadline of October 20, 2023, for the Diocese of Santa Rosa to receive claims from survivors of sexual abuse by clergy or others. If you did not file a lawsuit in the recently closed civil window, this is your last chance for restitution. If you do not file a claim and the bankruptcy proceeds to its conclusion, you will be permanently barred from taking action against the Diocese. Additional information is pasted below.

Septemver 7, 2023 

By: Paige N. Eppenstein Anderson

I have a confession to make. Despite drifting away from the Catholic Church a few decades ago, I still read America: The Jesuit Review on a regular basis. There are days when I wonder why -- perhaps because I was partially educated by Jesuits? Or because of my deep Catholic cultural roots that just won't wither?  These days I read with a newer lens as an abuse survivor, after finally recognizing/acknowledging the sexual, spiritual, and emotional abuse inflicted by a lay teacher at my Diocese of Allentown school, Msgr. Bornemann Memorial Central Catholic High School in Reading, PA. 

With the survivor lens in mind, my curiosity was piqued by Kevin Clarke's article, "The Complicated Legacy of State investigations of the Catholic sex abuse crisis." I began reading with an open mind; after all, over the last three years, I have come to know numerous survivors whose stories were included in the PA Grand Jury Report (my high school and local parish were hubs for abusive clergy). Their stories laid bare the web of moral and ethical corruption in various Catholic dioceses in PA. 

As I read further into the article, Clarke introduced Ms. Daly, a pastoral associate for a suburban Philadelphia parish. I found my jaw dropping as she noted that "people are jaded" and "We live in a sea of accusations and counter-accusations, news reports speaking to one reality while our parishes try to live something completely different. Who to believe? What to believe? Who knows?" The rhetorical question is even asked: "Why are they dragging this up again?" 

The Grand Jury reports produced recently in states like Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Maryland reveal the human stories behind the institutional bait and switch and rampant corruption. Sure, the church has put in place zero tolerance policies and annual safe environment trainings, as Ms. Daly noted. However, abusers still lurk in plain sight in parishes, diocesan non-profits, Catholic schools, and more -- participating in safe environment trainings and trying to blend into obscurity. This is exactly what my perpetrator did, evading any consequences for two and a half decades. The problem is more than just clergy, it is the systemic, poisonous culture of abuse in the Catholic Church coursing through the veins of the Body of Christ. As the poison spreads, it is absorbed by the entire Body which allows its members and leaders to turn a blind eye to a seemingly incurable illness.