by Leslie C. Griffin* I am waiting for the Maine Supreme Court to decide a case about sexual abuse and the statute of limitations [SOL].1 Statutes of limitations are rules that explain when the courts are open or closed to victims of abuse. I am particularly...
Catholic Church
The History of Catholic Abuse in Maine
by Leslie C. Griffin* The abuse of children by Catholic clergy has a long history in the State of Maine. The Beginning Some initial news about Catholic Maine abuse was released when the Maine Supreme Court ordered it. In Blethen Maine Newspapers v. Maine, 871 A.2d 523...
The Maryland Supreme Court Should Find The Maryland Child Victims Act of 2023 Constitutional
by Rob Jenner Jenner Law, P.C. Baltimore, Maryland Last month a dedicated team of lawyers presented oral argument before the Maryland Supreme Court in support of the Maryland Child Victims Act (CVA) of 2023. The heart of the legal battle concerned the statutory...
Do you know your Catholic abusers in New Hampshire?
by Leslie C. Griffin* This post will tell you about them. New Hampshire has one Catholic Diocese of Manchester, which includes many schools and parishes. New Hampshire has changed its statute of limitations [SOL] for sexual abuse several times. The SOL determines when...
Vermont: Stalling the Catholic Abuse Through Bankruptcy
by Leslie C. Griffin* There is one Roman Catholic diocese in Vermont, the Diocese of Burlington.1 On September 30, 2024, Kevin O’Connor reported that the diocese had gone into bankruptcy, becoming the fortieth Catholic organization to do so.2 In the bankruptcy papers,...
Future, Present and Past
by Leslie C. Griffin* You have probably read more about abuse and abusers in my last four blog posts than you believed was even possible. It is an exhausting list. Yet there are still many more cases before us, even now, in 2024. As the statutes of limitations change,...
CHILD USA is Shining a Light on the Institutional Failure in the Catholic Church’s Diocese with Child Sex Abuse
In 2002, the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team broke a story that would unleash an avalanche of disturbing revelations about the catholic church. For decades, thousands of children had been sexually abused by priests – men in positions of power, prestige, and trust....