Another Catholic organization tries to deny Louisiana sexual abuse victims their day in court; SNAP reacts
For Immediate Release: September 26, 2024
In June, Louisiana’s Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a state law that allows child sexual abuse victims to sue for their assaults, despite an appeal by the Catholic Diocese of Lafayette. Yet last week, another Catholic organization challenged the constitutionality of the statute, this time in federal court. SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, hopes that this latest attempt to keep the perpetrators of child sexual crimes and their enablers concealed will again fail.
The new federal lawsuit was filed by the Dominican Sisters of Peace. The nuns are represented by Denechaud and Denechaud, a law firm that has represented Catholic institutions in Louisiana courts for more than a century. Another of the law firm’s clients is the Archdiocese of New Orleans. The Archdiocese has filed for bankruptcy in the wake of lawsuits filed under this statute. We hope that this legal maneuver, like the previous one, will also be denied.
When Louisiana’s legislature enacted the look-back window in 2021, eliminating the statutes of limitation that prevented survivor access to the courts, the Louisiana Catholic Bishops' Conference was the only institution that opposed the law’s passage. Without this legislation, countless child abusers will remain hidden, leaving today's boys and girls in harm's way. This does not just include Catholic clergy, brothers and sisters, but also religious leaders from other faiths, coaches, counselors, teachers, and others in positions of power and authority over children.
Moreover, the institutions that knew about and protected these dangerous men and women will have no incentive to change the policies and practices that allowed their cover-ups, which exposed countless innocent children to unnecessary harm.
It also hurts the victims of abuse. For most of them, shining a light on the adults who committed and concealed crimes against them is a key part of that recovery. The window legislation will help them to expose the perpetrators and their enablers, helping these brave survivors heal. But sadly, a world-wide religious institution that claims to care about the vulnerable and the hurting is paying expensive lawyers by the hour to block this important information from seeing the light of day.
The Louisiana legislature and the public support this law. Virtually no one wants to protect those who harm children. Virtually no one wants to conceal crimes. Virtually no one wants families to be at risk because unknown perpetrators remain living and working near today's boys and girls.
But that is exactly what Catholic officials are trying to do. They are, once again, trying to nullify a popular and effective measure that helps to protect the vulnerable, heal the wounded, and expose the abusers and their enablers.
We hope that these Louisiana nuns - like the Diocesan officials who tried a similar legal maneuver - will be defeated in the courts, sooner rather than later.
CONTACT: Letitia Peyton, Louisiana SNAP ([email protected], 337-308-9120), Melanie Sakoda, Survivor Support Director ([email protected], 925-708-6175), Shaun Dougherty, SNAP Interim Executive Director ([email protected], 814-341-8386)
(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for more than 35 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)
