Former Mayor and current City Councilman Marion Barry is known for (and has plead guilty to) many things. Now he appears to be spearheading a movement to go after the Archdiocese of Washington in court. In the interest of supporting our Archdiocese, I supply the following which was forwarded to me by Monsignor Filardi. Please pray, and do what you can to combat this effort.
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Stop an Immediate Legislative Threat to the Archdiocese of Washington in
the DC City Council!
This is a request for your immediate action - today - to stop a grave legislative threat to the Archdiocese of Washington, our parishes and services.
The Crisis
A DC City Council committee and the full body of the Council have voted overwhelmingly in favor of B17-55, the IntraFamily Offenses Act. Councilmember Phil Mendelson has worked hard to develop a good bill. The Archdiocese of Washington supports this bill as currently written.
Now, Councilmember Marion Barry wants to amend the bill to give a small group of trial lawyers from outside the District of Columbia new opportunities to file lawsuits for money against the Archdiocese of Washington.
His proposed amendments would target only private institutions like us. They would not apply to public schools or other public institutions. That's not fair nor just.
Public institutions enjoy separate and very restrictive limits on monetary lawsuits. A minor has just six months from the time of an incident to sue a public institution for money. Plus there is a cap limiting the amount of money that can be awarded.
Maryland and at least 20 other states have rejected proposals like this. In fact, Maryland has rejected similar legislation five times. The small group of out-of-state trial lawyers did succeed recently in Delaware. Despite claims the legislation was not aimed at the Church, 27 new lawsuits for money were created - all against the Catholic Church.
Archdiocese of Washington is Committed to Child Protection and Healing
The Archdiocese of Washington has had a written Child Protection Policy
for 22 years. An advisory board of child welfare experts monitors our compliance. We mandate awareness education for children and adults, criminal background checks for those entrusted with children, mandatory reporting to civil authorities, immediate removal when credibly accused and accountability measures.
We have long been committed to the treatment and healing of those harmed through abuse in the past, offering apologies, immediate assistance and payment for counseling, therapy and other assistance, as well as financial settlements, without regard to the passage of time. These are the kinds of efforts that have and will make a difference in child protection.
YOUR ACTION REQUESTED IMMEDIATELY
Please contact your own Councilmember and the at-large members immediately:
No amendments to B17-55. These amendments would do nothing to protect children nor hold abusers accountable. They would not apply to public institutions, but would attack the archdiocese that has worked for decades to protect children and bring healing, and which every day provides social services, education and other care to the residents of this great city.
Council Chairman Vincent Gray: 202-724-8032 and vgray@dccouncil.us
At large: Councilmember Kwame Brown: 202-724-8174 and kbrown@dccouncil.us
At large: Councilmember David Catania: 202-724-7772 and dcatania@dccouncil.us
At large: Councilmember Phil Mendelson: 202-724-8064 and pmendelson@dccouncil.us
At large: Councilmember Carol Schwartz: 202-724-8105 and schwartzc@dccouncil.us
Ward 1: Councilmember Jim Graham: 202-724-8181 andjgraham@dccouncil.us
Ward 2: Councilmember Jack Evans: 724-8058 and jackevans@dccouncil.us
Ward 3: Councilmember Mary Cheh: 202-724-8062 and mcheh@dccouncil.us
Ward 4: Councilmember Muriel Bowser: 202-724-8052 and mbowser@dccouncil.us
Ward 5: Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr.: 202-724-8028 and hthomas@dccouncil.us
Ward 6: Councilmember Tommy Wells: 202-724-8072 and twells@dccouncil.us
Ward 7: Councilmember Yvette Alexander: 202-724-8068 and yalexander@dccouncil.us
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
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2 comments:
One has to wonder how much the lawyers are giving the Barry to propose this.
I would not assume that they are. But certainly they persuaded him that this was a good idea.
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