Marci A. Hamilton—professor and resident senior fellow in the Program for Research on Religion at the University of Pennsylvania and founder, CEO, and Academic Director of CHILD USA—comments on New York’s recent passage of the New York Child Victims Act and the troubling class action lawsuit filed purportedly on behalf of victims on the same day. Hamilton explains why class action lawsuits are inconsistent with child sex abuse victim empowerment and healing, pointing out that such lawsuits are designed for circumstances where the victims have identical or nearly identical harm, which is not the case with child sex abuse.

Marci A. Hamilton—professor and resident senior fellow in the Program for Research on Religion at the University of Pennsylvania and founder, CEO, and Academic Director of CHILD USA—comments on an op-ed by New York City’s Archdiocese’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan that Hamilton characterizes as full of “misstatements and ugly implications.” Hamilton disassembles Dolan’s claims and explains why litigation—not mediation, as Dolan claims—is critically essential for the victims of child sex abuse to access the justice they deserve.

Marci A. Hamilton—the Robert A. Fox Leadership Program Professor of Practice, and Fox Family Pavilion Resident Senior Fellow in the Program for Research on Religion at the University of Pennsylvania—comments on the progress (and lack thereof) of legislation in 2018 affecting child sex abuse victims’ access to justice across the United States. In particular, Hamilton calls upon American bishops to start advocating for, rather than against, the victims of abuse.

Marci A. Hamilton—the Robert A. Fox Leadership Program Professor of Practice, and Fox Family Pavilion Resident Senior Fellow in the Program for Research on Religion at the University of Pennsylvania—comments on the most recent report on child sex abuse, which was commissioned by the US Olympic Committee and focuses on the Dr. Larry Nassar scandal. Hamilton points out that scandal after scandal should make clear to the public that we have a systemic problem that is cultural, not isolated.

UNLV Boyd School of Law professor Leslie C. Griffin criticizes the recent order by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to permanently redact the names of eleven priests from the grand jury report on sexual misconduct by the clergy in six Pennsylvania Roman Catholic dioceses. Griffin argues that the redaction undermines the purpose of the grand jury report to promote openness and sends the negative signal to survivors that the court will protect their abusers.

Marci A. Hamilton, professor and resident senior fellow in the Program for Research on Religion at the University of Pennsylvania, explains the role of Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta in allowing multi-millionaire Jeffrey Epstein to plead guilty to a mere 13-month sentence despite evidence he had abused dozens of girls in his home in Palm Beach. Hamilton argues that Acosta should not be in any position of power, but particularly not one such as Labor Secretary, where the welfare of children or trafficking victims is at stake.

Marci A. Hamilton—the Robert A. Fox Leadership Program Professor of Practice, and Fox Family Pavilion Resident Senior Fellow in the Program for Research on Religion at the University of Pennsylvania—describes the growing tension between the Vatican and American Bishops with respect to clergy sex abuse and considers whether a schism might be imminent. Hamilton refers to and draws upon a column she wrote in 2002, in which she argued that disagreement between American bishops and the Vatican over the correct path for dealing with clergy sex abuse was foreordained.

Marci A. Hamilton, professor and resident senior fellow in the Program for Research on Religion at the University of Pennsylvania, explains how the Kavanaugh confirmation process shows the crossroads at which the #MeToo movement now stands. Hamilton goes on to describe three legal reforms that are needed now: to fix the criminal and civil statutes of limitations, to revise defamation laws, and to fix the mandated reporting laws so those with knowledge of sex assault share it with the authorities.

Marci A. Hamilton, professor and resident senior fellow in the Program for Research on Religion at the University of Pennsylvania, criticizes Pennsylvania Republican leadership for letting down child sex abuse victims in that state by proposing a “tribunal” that amounts to faux justice rather than passing meaningful legislation. Hamilton calls upon the legislature to pass a real window via statute of limitation reform and to let the private entities handle their own compensation funds.

Marci A. Hamilton, professor and resident senior fellow in the Program for Research on Religion at the University of Pennsylvania, explains how Bill Cosby, Catholic clergy, and Brett Kavanaugh are all in different stages in the justice system but cut from the same cloth. Hamilton points out that in the era of #MeToo, powerful men can no longer evade credible serial accusations of sexual misconduct.

Marci A. Hamilton, professor and resident senior fellow in the Program for Research on Religion at the University of Pennsylvania, comments critically on a letter by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano suggesting that Pope Francis resign because he knew about Cardinal Theodore McCarrick sexually abusing seminarians and did nothing. Hamilton points out that bishops across the United States have been complicit in, or have covered up, countless acts of abuse, and if suddenly now one bishop is calling for everyone who played a part in cover-ups to resign, then it logically follows that the entire Church hierarchy must go.

Marci A. Hamilton, professor and resident senior fellow in the Program for Research on Religion at the University of Pennsylvania, calls for reviving expired statutes of limitations so that the child victims documented in the grand jury report on sexual abuse in six Roman Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania can obtain justice.

Marci A. Hamilton, a Fox Distinguished Scholar in the Fox Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania, describes how insurance, chamber of commerce, and religious lobbyists are impeding child sex abuse victims’ access to justice in several states. Hamilton points to three states that were considering bills that seemed optimistic but have since been turned sideways by big business and powerful lobbyists.

Marci A. Hamilton—one of the country’s leading church-state scholars and the Fox Professor of Practice and Fox Family Pavilion Resident Senior Fellow in the Program for Research on Religion in the Fox Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania—analogizes Marvel’s blockbuster Avengers movie with the far more serious (and real) fight for justice for sexual assault victims. Hamilton explains in terms understandable to any moviegoer why statutes of limitations on sexual abuse claims allow the “bad guys” to win.

Marci A. Hamilton, a Fox Distinguished Scholar in the Fox Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania, praises Olympic gold medalist in judo Kayla Harrison’s book Fighting Back: What an Olympic Champion’s Story Can Teach Us About Recognizing and Preventing Child Sexual Abuse—And Helping Kids Recover. Hamilton describes the book as ambitious, but well worth reading, especially for teachers, coaches, youth-serving organizations, and every parent intent on preventing the sexual abuse of their children.

Marci A. Hamilton—a Fox Distinguished Scholar in the Fox Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania, and the CEO and Academic Director of CHILD USA—describes the small step forward New York has recently taken to improve access to justice for child sex abuse victims. Hamilton points out that Republican senators are dragging their feet and offering flimsy excuses for not backing the legislation that would expand the window for sex abuse claims, a stance inconsistent with their position on other windows, such as those for medical malpractice claims.

Marci A. Hamilton, a professor and resident senior fellow in the Fox Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania, describes what three states are doing to improve child sex abuse victims' access to justice. Hamilton explains how Georgia, Michigan, and New York are finally changing their restrictive statutes of limitations to start to give victims access to the court system they so deserve.

Marci A. Hamilton, a professor and resident senior fellow in the Fox Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania, reflects on the changes to civil and criminal statutes of limitations (SOLs) for child sex abuse across the United States in 2017, and points out how SOLs relate to the #MeToo movement exposing the breadth and pervasiveness of adult sexual assault and harassment. Hamilton praises the progress made over the past year and but calls upon legislators and politicians at all levels to take additional steps to protect children.

Professor and resident senior fellow in the Fox Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania, Marci A. Hamilton points out two ways the legal system reinforces a culturally ingrained fear of undermining the “family breadwinner”: short statutes of limitations (SOLs) for sex abuse and defamation law. Hamilton argues that fixing the SOLs and defamation law can shift the balance of power between perpetrators and the victims.

Marci A. Hamilton, a professor and resident senior fellow in the Fox Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania, praises the work of the late Barbara Blaine, who worked tirelessly to expose the patterns of child sex abuse in the Catholic Church, which in turn revealed the same pattern in other settings. Hamilton extols Blaine’s accomplishments and calls upon us all to continue to fight for justice for sex abuse victims.