HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania’s Secretary of the Commonwealth Kathy Boockvar will resign her post this Friday, after Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration revealed that the Department of State failed to advertise a proposed constitutional amendment that would retroactively extend the timeline for victims to file civil actions against their abusers.
The proposed amendment, House Bill 14, would provide “an individual for whom a statutory limitations period has already expired, [to] have a period of two years from the time that this subsection becomes effective to commence an action arising from childhood sexual abuse, in such cases as provided by law at the time that [the legislation] becomes effective.”
The bill is similar to legislation passed in other states extending civil statutes of limitation for victims of child sexual abuse, against such institutions as the Catholic Church.
Had the measure been properly advertised, passed by the General Assembly and then approved by Pennsylvania voters in the primary election this May, victims of abuse would have been able to begin filing litigation almost immediately.
But that prospect is now off the table until 2023 at the earliest.
Timothy N. Hale of Nye Stirling Hale & Miller in Santa Barbara, Calif. serves as co-counsel in a class action lawsuit, pending since late 2018, which seeks to compel the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania to release records and other files connected to incidents of sexual abuse over the past 70+ years and in doing so, to abide by mandatory reporting statutes.
Hale called the legislative turn of events in Pennsylvania “beyond disappointing.”
“It further delays justice for survivors, and continues the danger for today’s kids. The 2018 (grand jury) report did an amazing job of identifying sexual predators, but it was only a start. Its focus was on diocesan perpetrators, and only scratched the surface of the religious orders,” Hale said.
“There are countless predatory religious brothers, priests and nuns who remain unidentified in Pennsylvania, not to mention predators in other denominations and organizations. The civil window would have changed that. Its failure perpetuates institutional secrecy. Every day that passes without a change in the statute of limitations gives such predators more time to commit crimes against children. I hope the legislature acts swiftly to correct this.”
Under the state constitution, after first passage, the wording of a proposed constitutional amendment must be advertised in two newspapers in each of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, in each of the three months before the next general election at which members of the General Assembly are elected.
Such required notice was not provided prior to the 2020 General Election.
Proposed amendments must pass in two consecutive sessions of the General Assembly, and must be advertised after each passage, after which the proposal is then put to the voters in a statewide referendum.
That referendum was expected to take place in the 2021 Primary Election on May 18. Now, the measure will not appear on a ballot for a voter referendum until at least 2023.
In a statement, the Department of State credited a “simple human error” reportedly discovered late last week, for the lack of advertising the proposed amendment.
Due to that error, the process surrounding the proposed amendment, which first passed the House of Representatives in an earlier form in November 2019, must start entirely anew, unless the General Assembly takes up the matter through the bill process.
In addition to Boockvar’s departure on Friday, Wolf said new measures have been implemented to prevent such a mistake from happening again and an investigation into the matter has been launched.
“I have asked the Pennsylvania Office of State Inspector General to review the situation and make additional recommendations to improve the department’s process for handling constitutional amendments,” Wolf said in a statement issued Monday.
Wolf added that Boockvar’s resignation was connected only to the error concerning the proposed amendment – and not due to the controversy attached to the processing of mail-in ballots in the 2020 General Election, through which Boockvar came to national prominence last year.
Wolf referred to the error as “heartbreaking”, and expressed anger and frustration at the administrative mistake.
“The delay caused by this human error will be heartbreaking for thousands of survivors of childhood sexual assault, advocates and legislators, and I join the Department of State in apologizing to you. I share your anger and frustration that this happened, and I stand with you in your fight for justice. The progress that you have made through your bravery and activism is remarkable, and I urge all of the advocates, including Sen. Lisa Baker, Rep. Jim Gregory, Rep. Mark Rozzi, Attorney General Josh Shapiro and all others, to keep up this fight. Your voices still must be heard.”
Boockvar also released a statement, taking responsibility on behalf of the Department of State for the error.
“I’ve always believed that accountability and leadership must be a cornerstone of public service. While I only became aware of the mistake last week, and immediately took steps to alert the administration to the error, I accept responsibility on behalf of the department,” Boockvar said.
Wolf announced he would appoint Veronica Degraffenreid to succeed Boockvar as acting Secretary of the Commonwealth. Degraffenreid had served as the Department of State’s special advisor on election modernization and possesses over 12 years of experience in election administration. She also served as the former Director of Election Operations for the North Carolina State Board of Elections.
Reactions to the situation span from shock and anger, to anguish and disbelief.
Rep. Gregory, primary sponsor of the proposed amendment, said that the state’s mistake has led to abuse victims being re-traumatized.
“The people that we’re fighting for were sexually abused as youngsters, and they’re now in their 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. This is an abuse of a different kind. It’s a mental abuse, that the governor and his administration have to be held accountable for. Because that’s how victims are feeling today, that this is just bringing it back to the surface. And it’s a very, very unpleasant feeling,” Gregory stated.
“When the [Pennsylvania] Senate passes it, I believe that will now count as first passage. And we’re going to make damn sure it gets advertised this time, and then we have to do it again as early as we can when the next session starts, in January of 2023, so that it would be on the ballot in that primary election. Just describing that is mind-boggling."
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com