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Delaware High Court Upholds Child Victim's Act Window For Filing Suits

By Howard M. Friedman

In Sheehan v. Oblates of St. Frances de Sales, (DE Sup. Ct., Feb. 22, 2011), the Delaware Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the state's 2007 Child Victim's Act that repealed the statute of limitations in child sex abuse cases and created a 2-year window for filing suits on which the prior statute of limitations had run. The court concluded that the statute does not violate either state or federal due process protections. Remanding the case for a new trial, the court also held that the CVA revives intentional tort claims and found that the trial judge abused his discretion in excluding testimony of one of plaintiff's expert witnesses on causation. The suit involves allegations of sexual abuse in 1962 by a priest teaching at a Catholic school attended by plaintiff. AP reports on the decision. (See prior related posting.)

Full post as published by Religion Clause on February 23, 2011 (boomark / email).