Green Party of Ohio
www.ohiogreens.org
Dec 11, 2005
The Green Party thru the state's Rapid Response Team (RRT ) expresses
SOLIDARITY with Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) as
we share the goals of SNAP and applaud the efforts of SNAP supporting Ohio Senate Bill 17.
We suggest to our members that they might find actively supporting SNAP
for Ohio Senate Bill 17 consistent with Green Party values. Senate Bill 17 was introduced this past March in the Ohio Senate, and
was formulated as a response to the recent Catholic Church sex abuse scandal. However the bill has far more benefits than just that, and
applies to all those in Ohio that have been, or will be, sexually assaulted in any way.
The bills purpose is threefold:
1) Lengthen Ohio's statute of limitations to bring civil action on most
sexual crimes from the current limit of 2 years to 20 years. This is of
utmost importance, considering many abuse survivors are not are not emotionally capable of seeking
justice in the small time frame that the current law allows them to do so.
2) Reopens all cases where that statute has expired for an additional
year, making this ordinance retroactive. This will help protect others,
namely children, by exposing past rapists and abusers in the courts, thereby making them subject to the
Ohio sex offender registry requirements.
3) Add religious clergy of all faiths to the list of mandated child
abuse reporters under Ohio law. This means that the Catholic cover up of
their abusive priests will never be tolerated again.
This legislation passed the Ohio Senate by a 31-0 vote. Since then, it
has been passed to the Ohio House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, and Item #2 is being vigorously opposed by Ohio's Catholic
Bishops, who claim the passage of Senate Bill 17, as written with the one year window, will bankrupt the Ohio Catholic Church.
The Ohio Green Party's support of Senate Bill 17 is consistent with Item
II (Social Justice), Section 8, item C of the national platform, which
states:
"Youth have the right to be protected from abuse, harmful drugs,
violence, environmental hazards, neglect, and exploitation."
Brian Kozina, of the SNAP Network and an Ohio Green party member said,
“This legislation is a direct and appropriate response to those that
have exploited, abused, and used sexual and physical violence against children, as well as those
who have neglected children by giving the abusers safe haven.”
For more information, or to arrange an interview, please contact Ohio
Green Party Media Relations Representative Russ Buckbee at 330-562-4637
or russbuckbee@adelphia.net
