Three words, and the standard of proof they establish, dominated a House judiciary subcommittee hearing Wednesday on proposed changes to a law aimed at giving sex abuse victims more power to go after their abusers.
Following a prolonged debate over language, the subcommittee voted in favor of moving a revised Georgia Hidden Predator Act onto the full committee. It’s designed to make it easier for victims of sexual assault to sue the organizations accused of not doing enough to protect children from abusers. The original Hidden Predator Act, passed in 2015, is widely considered to be among the nation’s weakest.
But its path to final passage promises to be a difficult one, thanks to a one-year window that would allow an individual of any age to sue both alleged abusers and the organizations which shielded them.
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That window is the biggest sticking point for groups like the Boy Scouts, the Catholic Church and the insurance industry that lobbied against the revamped bill. It was designed to help victims whose lawsuits naming institutions hit a dead end due to statute of limitations concerns.
Language was added to the bill that would require a plaintiff, in order to pursue a claim, show the organization “knowingly and willfully” concealed evidence.
Attorney Marlan Wilbanks said that language would actually make it more difficult for victims.
“You can’t have a criminal standard in a civil case,” Wilbanks said. “You can’t raise that bar and expect it to help the victims. They need a civil standard, not criminal.”
A compromise was established, replacing “knowingly and willfully” with “reckless disregard or conscience indifference.”
Committee member Rep. Ed Setzler, R-Acworth, arguing on behalf of the organizations who lobbied hard against the bill but stayed mum during Wednesday’s hearing, said legislators “have a dual mandate for providing justice on both sides of that question.”
“We’re trying to play the justice game,” Setzler said. “We’re talking about an act that could’ve took place in the 1970s.”
Opponents of the bill claim programs they have developed to keep kids safe would suffer if they are forced to pay large sums of money to victims of past abuse.
“Some of the organizations who are worried about this should be worried about this,” Wilbanks said.
The legislation would allow individuals up to the age of 38 to sue alleged perpetrators and entities like private schools, youth organizations and churches. Current law caps the age at 23. HB 605 would also expand the discovery period from when a victim learns about a cover-up to the time they were to seek legal redress from two to four years.
“There is a group of victims in this state who are unable to achieve justice,” said Bert Reeves, R-Marietta, chairman of the subcommittee. “It’s my personal opinion we should do something.”
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