Maryland’s highest court upholds ending statute of limitations on child sex abuse lawsuits
David Lorenz, the Maryland director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, talks to journalists Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, outside of the Supreme Court of Maryland in Annapolis, Md. (AP Photo/Brian Witte, File)
In the court’s majority ruling, written by Maryland Chief Justice Matthew Fader, justices decided that the relevant portion of the 2017 law created a statute of limitations “and that the running of a statute of limitations does not establish a vested right to be free from liability from the underlying cause of action.”
“We further hold that it was within the power of the General Assembly to retroactively abrogate that statute of limitations,” the court ruled. “The Child Victims Act of 2023 is therefore constitutional as applied to the defendants in the three cases before us.”
David Lorenz, the Maryland director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, praised the ruling, calling it “a victory for survivors.”
Attorneys for defendants facing liability claims under the 2023 law contended that the 2017 law was written in a way that permanently protected certain defendants from liability. They argued that the law included a statute of repose, which could not be modified because it included a “vested right to be free from liability.”
A dissenting opinion by the court said the 2017 law created a statute of repose with respect to claims against non-perpetrator defendants.
“Thus, any claims against non-perpetrator defendants that were untimely on the effective date of the 2017 Act, or that became untimely before the effective date of the 2023 Act, could not be revived without violating the vested rights of the affected defendants,” Justice Jonathan Biran wrote.
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