On Dec. 21, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California issued an opinion in Melanie H v. Defendant Doe 1 (Civ. No. 041596-WQH-(WMc), rejecting a constitutional challenge by the Catholic Church to California's extension of the statute of limitations in priest childhood sexual abuse cases. The opinion is not yet available online, except through the court's PACER system (account required). The Bishop of San Diego and Sisters of Precious Blood argued that California's SB 1779 (Cal. Code of Civil Procedure Sec. 340.1) violates the free exercise, establishment, due process, ex post facto and bill of attainder clauses of the U.S. Constitution.
The court concluded that SB 1779 does not burden the Church's choice, supervision or retention of priests, and that the financial burden in defending lawsuits is not a burden on religious belief or practice. It also found that the statute does not favor or disfavor one religion over others, nor will it lead to excessive entanglement of Church and state. The court found that the claim that defendants due process rights were violated is premature and that SB 1779 is not per se unconstitutional under the Due Process Clause. Finally, it rejected the ex post facto and bill of attainder claims.
Reporting on the decision, last week's Los Angeles Times pointed out that this is the second case to reject constitutional challenges to SB 1779.
