2019: When Maryland gave abuse victims more time to sue, it may have also protected institutions, including the Catholic Church @Willcsmithjr

...Judicial Proceedings Chairman Bobby Zirkin (D-Baltimore County) said he disagrees with Rowe’s analysis, as well as one written for the Maryland Catholic Conference by Kurt J. Fischer, a partner at the prominent Venable law firm.

“I’m moving that bill,” Zirkin said, promising a committee vote.

Zirkin, a lawyer, introduced the amendments in 2017 that included the repose statute. He said “it wasn’t anyone’s intent” to grant permanent immunity.

In interviews, several other lawmakers who negotiated the compromise recalled the two church lobbyists who shopped the repose provision, saying they did not want to repeatedly revisit extending the statute of limitations. The lawmakers said they now believe they unwittingly agreed to language that could permanently prevent anyone born before the early 1980s from suing the church...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/when-maryland-gave-abuse-victims-more-time-to-sue-it-may-have-also-protected-institutions-including-the-catholic-church/2019/03/31/769537ca-4f3a-11e9-911a-7d51996d6f38_story.html?fbclid=IwAR2rRb7M-x3LDIW3CpFn_V0yvPd9zV8ZYtfSoyDRptEkgZbfScJ5QPTiIE8