The Adult Survivors Act waived the statute of limitations -- the time limit for filing a lawsuit.
New York state is turning its back on the rights of the accused.
This could mean you. Anyone can be the target of a lawsuit, whether deserved or not.
More than 3,000 lawsuits have been filed since the Adult Survivors Act went into effect in November 2022.
Who’s getting sued? Entertainers Jamie Foxx and Axl Rose, Mayor Adams, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, former President Donald Trump, as well as business titans, physicians, prison guards, employers and others.
The law set up a one-year window during which people who claim to be victims of sexual assault could sue their alleged abuser, no matter how long ago the abuse took place, if at all.
The act waived the statute of limitations — the time limit for filing a lawsuit. That’s a dangerous mistake.
When someone is accused of wrongdoing 20 years ago, it’s impossible to remember details, assemble restaurant and hotel receipts, track down witnesses and prove innocence.
Statutes of limitation have been a feature of American law since the nation’s founding to ensure defendants can mount a defense.
Now state lawmakers are talking about suspending the statute of limitations for another year — or forever. That would be a disaster.
Sexual-abuse victims deserve justice.
SEE ALSO eric adams Mayor Adams claims NYC is BACK and a paradise — who is he fooling? But the Adult Survivors Act is producing plenty of injustice.
“How do you expect people to remember details of something that happened or didn’t happen?” asks Harvard Law Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz of cases from years ago.
New York lawmakers should restore the statute of limitations and limit it to five years.
Apparently they don’t give a damn about defendants’ rights. They’re kowtowing to #MeToo, not to mention the trial lawyers who stand to make millions in contingency fees.
State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said, “With the Adult Survivors Act, we are saying that we believe you.”
Sorry. That’s not justice. That’s tilting the scales.
Why believe the accused more than the defendant?
Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D-Manhattan), the law’s sponsor, said, “Statutes of limitation only serve to protect the perpetrators.”
That’s wacky. It’s hard to believe people elected to make our laws say such things.
Not every defendant is guilty. That’s for a court of law to decide.
Referring to the thousands of lawsuits, Hoylman-Sigal says that “there haven’t been any examples of false claims being filed.” Preposterous.
Many lawsuits will be settled, but for those that go to trial, it will often be one person’s word against another’s.
Axl Rose is accused by Sheila Kennedy, a Penthouse Pet of the Year, of raping her in 1989.
“Simply put, this incident never happened,” Rose says.
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Mayor Adams says the same about his accuser, who is asking for $5 million: “It did not happen.”
The woman suing Jamie Foxx for allegedly putting his hand down her pants during a photo op in 2015 is demanding anonymity.
She told the court she doesn’t want to “bear the stigma that is associated with being a sexual assault victim.”
What about reputational damage to Foxx?
It’s likely some plaintiffs are in it for the money.
Foxx says his accuser filed an almost identical lawsuit against him in 2020, but the case was dismissed: “The claims are no more viable today than they were then.”
There are two circumstances when it is just to waive the statute of limitations, for children and prisoners.
In 2019, New York enacted a law — the Child Victims Act — allowing adults who were sexually abused as children to sue.
Children don’t fully understand the abuse and can’t hire a lawyer or file a police report themselves.
The other circumstance is prisoners.
More than 750 women who say they were sexually abused while locked up have sued the state Department of Corrections and individual prison guards.
These women could not have acted sooner. They were behind bars.
Aside from these two exceptions, statutes of limitations are necessary to ensure defendants get fair trials.
55 What do you think? Post a comment. The New York City Council should take note. In 2021, it enacted a law waiving the statute of limitations for lawsuits alleging gender-related violence. Big mistake.
New York lawmakers need a refresher course in the fundamental American principles that make all of us free.
Don’t let #MeToo zealots take away your rights.