I received the following e-mail this morning from Professor Marci Hamilton providing details on the press conference in New York City at 11:00 am on September 25th announcing a Call to Action on state and national laws lifting the statutes of limitations on sexual abuse victim’s lawsuits.

* * *

Frank– What follows is 2 invitations — 1 for the general public and the second for the press. Could you forward either or both to the appropriate folks? Thanks much–Marci

Join

Cardozo Prof. Marci Hamilton, legal advisor to victims of sexual abuse in several noteworthy cases around the country;

State Representative Margaret Markey of Queens, NY ;
State Senator Karen Peterson of Delaware;
and

Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

At a
CALL TO ACTION

September 25, 2007 at 11am

FOR STATE & NATIONAL LAWS
LIFTING The STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS

ON Sexual Abuse VICTIMs’ LAWSUITS

• Assemblywoman Markey has introduced legislation in New York that has passed in the Assembly, but has stalled repeatedly in the Senate.

• Senator Peterson spearheaded newly adopted legislation in Delaware .

• Both legislators will discuss their efforts and the importance of the legislation.

• NY survivors will speak about the need for similar legislation in New York .

• Survivor Matt Conaty of Delaware will tell why he worked hard to get legislation passed in his state.

• Survivor Vicki Polin will address why legislation is needed for the millions of Americans who are victims of incest.

• Professor Hamilton will talk about the growing national grassroots movement for legislation and her recent book that details the need for such legislation and identifies its rather surprising opponents.

Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law/Yeshiva University

Jacob Burns Moot Court Room
55 Fifth Avenue @ 12th Street
New York , New York

From: BENJAMIN N. CARDOZO SCHOOL OF LAW OF YESHIVA UNIVERSITY

Contact: Dan Klores Communications Cardozo Public Relations

Bruce Bobbins / Wendy Maurice Susan Davis

212-981-5190 / 212-981-5235 212-790-0237

908-586-5742 / 917-414-7369 917-734-0203

REQUEST FOR COVERAGE

CHILDHOOD SEX ABUSE SURVIVORS, NY STATE ASSEMBLYWOMAN MARKEY,

DELAWARE SEN. PETERSON, AND CARDOZO LAW PROF. AND VICTIMS’ LEGAL ADVISOR MARCI HAMILTON CALL FOR STATE, NATIONAL LAWS LIFTING STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS ON VICTIM LAWSUITS SEPT. 25

New York State Assemblywoman Margaret Markey, Delaware State Senator Karen Peterson, and Marci Hamilton, professor of law at Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo of Law, visiting professor at Princeton University, and legal advisor to victims of clergy sexual abuse in several noteworthy cases around the country, will be joined by a number of childhood sexual abuse survivors in calling on all states, including New York, to reform the arbitrary statute of limitation laws that bar childhood sexual abuse victims from bringing criminal and civil legal actions against their perpetrators, at a press conference this Tuesday, Sept. 25, 11 a.m.,

Jacob Burns Moot Court Room at Cardozo School of Law, 55 Fifth Ave. (at 12^th St .).

It is estimated that one in five boys and one in four girls in America are victims of childhood sexual abuse. Most of the perpetrators are known by the victims. But, far too many of these crimes go unreported for many years – only 10 percent of victims go to authorities – and most of the offenders escape responsibility. When victims finally – and courageously – speak up, they are denied justice as arbitrary statutes of limitations prohibit them from seeking legal recourse.

Two states – California in 2003 and Delaware in 2007, led by Sen. Peterson – have enacted legislation that amends these arbitrary deadlines to enable both criminal prosecutions and civil actions against the perpetrators. In California , “window” legislation, which suspended the civil limitation, helped identify 300 previously anonymous predators and enabled victims to seek justice again them. For the past several years, Assemblywoman Markey has introduced similar legislation in New York . It has passed in the Assembly, but has stalled each time in the Senate.

INTERVIEWS WITH ALL PARTICIPANTS, INCLUDING SURVIVORS,

AT PRESS CONFERENCE

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 20, 2007 at 1:53 pm and is filed under Abuse and Cover Up, Must Read, Reform. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.