Former AG Moylan questions constitutionality of Bill 326
A former attorney general and long-time legislative legal counsel cautions that Bill 326 may not survive a legal challenge. Doug Moylan is urging the governor and senators to seek an opinion from the Supreme Court of Guam on whether the measure even meets constitutional muster.
Moylan says the section of the proposed legislation extending the statute of limitations indefinitely for child sex abuse crimes could be a problem, because a previous law for filing abuse cases already opened a two year window that has since closed. "But then all of a sudden the Legislature is attempting now to revive it, which hits the due process and equal protection clause of the Organic Act and the US Constitution," he stated.
But Moylan is also concerned that the law would open the floodgates for claims that could bring the church to its financial knees, adding, "You open up the can of worms by letting a lawsuit proceed by opening the statute of limitations. again the amount of money the Catholic Church is going to have to invest to pay people like me - lawyers - to defend itself is going to be ruinous to them"
He says victims should file against the individual perpetrators, not the local institution. And for those abusers who have died or lack resources to pay? Moylan says the Vatican has a procedure to provide restitution for victims similar to a government claims act. "In this case," he said, "part of it goes to peoples trust in the Vatican."
"These people were injured can the church provide the appropriate compensation. The lawyers on Guam should actually be looking to the Vatican to see what type of relief is available," added Moylan.
Administrative institutions under the archdiocese likewise fear what might happen if the church is forced into bankruptcy. Catholic Social Services for one has been providing help to the poor, the disadvantaged and the marginalized for the past 37 years.
Executive director Diana Calvo said, "Speaking on behalf of the Catholic Church, and specifically for CSS, that might have an impact on how we do business and whether or not we continue to do business in some of the certain program areas."
Calvo says CSS is a provider of victims' service and understands the impact of abuse, but she says it must be balanced against the good work and ministries the church does provide. "It's not anything about victim restitution because we're all supportive of that," Calvo said.
It's election year. Politicians normally no the most abnormal things during this time. Senator frank Blas used Bill 326 to propel himself in the polls since he was falling drastically especially after his humiliating defeat at the hands of Madeline Bordallo. The "sex abuse justice at all costs bandwagon" was his easy ticket for reelection. But it's obvious that he didn't do his homework Seeing that his bill has many legal holes. Bill 326 is a legal joke despite its seemingly grandiose and lofty ideal to prosecute the church and milk it for all its worth. It's a cheap way for him to earn votes by preying on the fears of people in order to force them to lynch the archbishop and the church as well. He thinks he can get votes by making vengeance and calling it justice. For these reasons perhaps he really is not fit to be an elected law maker. Better for him to sell insurance and stay away from the business of making laws. Bad lawmakers end up making bad laws.
ReplyDeleteIf the petition means anything, it's that it won't do much for his poll numbers.
DeleteSenator Frank Aguon is responsible for this bill. He allowed it in his committee and he gave the authority of drafting the bill to Bill Klitzkie, a person in the audience. I mean, Senator Aguon ripped the power of law making from the Legislature and gave it away to a Tim Rohr clone from CCOG who dictated the bill word by word to Frank Aguon. No wonder, Frank Aguon is a paid politician.
DeleteFolks, hired tongues rule the Guam Senate. These fake senators should be voted out from representing the people.
If this bill is signed into law, there won't be any limitation to the damages that can be inflicted on Guam and its people. Make no mistake, the scope of this bill is not restricted to the Catholic Church! The same bill applies to all institutions/ nurseries/ kinder gardens/ schools/ corporations/ etc.
ReplyDeleteJust imagine the sheer number of lawsuits that will engulf as soon as greedy criminal elements realize that claiming childhood abuse from as far as 30-40-50 or even 60 years ago against any institution/ nursery/ kinder garden/ school/ corporation/ etc. can pay off millions of dollars right into their pockets... Wow!
That will be the day when the society as an entity of people sharing a common culture will collapse. Also, that will be the day you can say goodbye to common sense in politics forever!
Try to remember that there has to be some substantiation to any claim. It's not as bad as all that. The only person for whom there is evidenc is Fr Louis B. The rest of this is hearsay. We all need to remain calm right now. It probably going to pass but like everything, God will bring it to the good.
DeleteDear Anonymous at 8:47 am,
DeleteIf this bill is passed, it will not matter whether there is evidence or not. Any greedy person can claim they were sexually abused 40 or 50 years ago. All they need is a dead priest like Father Jack Niland. If a person claims that he was raped by Father Jack, the bill gives him the right to sue the Archdiocese even if there is no evidence to substantiate the claim.
That's not quite so. You can't just walk into court and make a claim and win. What happpened in other dioceses like Boston was an overwhelming amount of evidence.
DeleteDear Anonymous at 10:47 am,
DeleteWhy not???? What is to stop a scammer from making a false claim??? The scammer knows that it would cost the Church more money in legal fees going to court, and that it would be easier to settle outside of court. So, which option do you think the church would go for? This law makes it easy for greedy criminals to scam the church out of millions of dollars.
Diana @ 8:59 AM, are you experiencing some kind of Time Warp? The Guam Legislature passed Bill 326 13-0 but you're saying "IF this bill is passed"
DeleteDear Anonymous at 4:35 pm,
DeleteBy that, I meant if this bill is passed into law. The bill is not a law yet. It is still a bill.
Where was he during the deliberation and why the sudden press conference?
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous at 4:58 am,
DeleteWe are not blind. We already saw that those,who supported the bill were intimidating others who oppose it. They say that those who oppose the bill support child abusers. Just look at what they are now saying in the jungle about Doug Moylan. Look at how Zoltan was criticized when he spoke out against it. We do not support child abusers, but we do not want to see our church destroyed. Our church leader was supposed to lead and guide the faithful into opposing this bill, but he was absent. Now, that he has come out opposing the bill, it becomes easier for many of us to stand behind him.
The timing of Hon’s lobbying raises questions. Why didn’t he speak up when the bill was being revised? Why did he wait until after the bill was passed?
DeleteNeither Hon nor San Nicolas defended the church at the public hearing on this Bill. This shows their ineptitude concerning the gravity of the Bill and their fear of loosing face. Wimps!
ReplyDeleteIf the bill becomes law and the church is hit with lawsuits, then the church ends up selling land and properties. But who will buy them? The answer is in the North. In the CNMI the Chinese mafia are now eyeing their way into Guam. This is their opportunity to get land and the RMS. This will form the base for establishing casinos. Rohr will get his share of the sale. Jeff will appoint Rohr as real estate guy after having dinner with Rich Untalan. Atty Jacob or Champ can do legal negotiations. Benavente can cut a few deals in the background. Vangie and Patti can shout with joy because there is some free money here to be had! Atty lujan will represent the accusers in court. What the heck, the whole gang wins!
Guam will be invaded by vultures who will swoop in to pick on the carcass of the Catholic church killed by CCOG, LFM, SNM and the grand master of China himself, the illustrious Savio Hon. The archdiocese will bleed to death thanks to the Vatican - Unless they do something soon.
Mother church is killed because 2 of her own sons have betrayed her. All this in their defense. It all started when these two priests defied Apuron in 2014. These two priests have built their legacy in the bones of mother church! I wonder, if they are now happy.
If this bill passes, and we have no archbishop, what will happen to the church on Guam?
DeleteThe opposition to Bill 326-33 in mounting. It started slowly but the snowball effect reached a point now that cannot be neglected. Governor Calvo cannot sign this bill into law without thorough constitutional scrutiny!
DeleteThere is no constitution in any country on this wide world that would allow this kind of trash legislation into effect! If this law is enacted it will raze all achievements of the inhabitants and perpetuate the colonial status of Guam forever. Why? Very simple! If a horde of angry people can abuse law making, the very essence of democracy, then nothing on this tiny island can be made safe ever!
It is a sad situation and it all began with two priests. This situation i now see is not about NCW or RMS. It is about a few priests.
ReplyDeleteWe are at the mercy of Hon!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the pope knows about the mess Hon is doing here and how he is ruining the church!
Not only is hon aiming to destroy RMS he's killing the entire church in the process!
Where is Hon?
DeleteHe is no where to be found. He messed up our Church.
Bring back Archbishop Anthony.
We love Archbishop Anthony.
Two priests who defied Apuron? Who?
ReplyDeleteTim Rohr is a hypocrite. He's always rallying about saving the church. Now, his stance has changed. Compensate the victims even if it destroys the innocents. The church is innocent.
ReplyDeleteThe church as the body of Christ is. The hierarchy isn't necessarily. Hon is your evidence. No one has trusted him. I suspect Apuron will be removed. I hate to say it but I hope it's a non-Guamanian who replaces him. Don't trust even one of our priests, NCW affiliated or not. Have faith in the Holy Father. He will do the right thing. Right Diana?
DeleteDear Anonymous at 10:51 am,
DeleteArchbishop Apuron will not be removed. Pope Francis did not remove his title as Archbishop of Agana. We still place our trust in Pope Francis.
Now Fr.Jeff turning against Archbishop Anthony the man who ordained him. What is going on? No obedience to the Archbishop of Guam Archbishop Apuron.
ReplyDeleteArchbishop Anthony is Archbishop of Agana Guam. Fr.Jeff he is the Archbishop of Guam show respect obedience to Archbishop Anthony. We love you Archbishop Anthony. Our group support you. Come home soon.
ReplyDeleteYou all seem to forget that it was your archbishop that requested for this archbishop administrator to clear his name. Now you're all stoning him for what he's done. Blame it all on your archbishop. He's the one that requested for him. Remember the video with your archbishop stating that or did you forget?
ReplyDeleteDear Terlaje,
DeleteWe put the blame where it should be. Archbishop Hon did not speak out against the bill when it was introduced into legislation. Quit going back to Archbishop Apuron who is not even on island. Teach people to take responsibility for their actions instead and the world will become a better place. Otherwise you would end up going all the way back in time and blame the Spanish missionaries for bringing Catholicism to the island.
No, I'm blaming the NCW for trying to take it away.
DeleteDear Terlaje,
DeleteTake what away? Can you be specific? Archbishop Hon was not here to clear Archbishop Apuron's name. He made that perfectly clear. He was here to manage the Archdiocese while Archbishop Apuron gets his name cleared.
This Father Jeff is something. He doctored a dishonest report on the RM seminary. He attacked his Archbishop. He cried, He defied Cardinal Hon, his superior. He defended the undifensible. He has no mercy on the neocatechumens' suffering. Gosh....
ReplyDeleteFr. Jeff standing before our church blasting a holy cardinal in rome blasting our seminary our communties. Archbishop Anthony come home our church in crisis in Hon @jeff road show.
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous at 2:19 pm,
DeleteActually, he has done much worse than that. I do not have a problem with disagreements, but disobedience is a different story. The two are not the same. If he was told by the cardinal not to give out the seminary report, and he obviously gave it out, that is disobedience.
Diana, if Father Jeff thought it was immoral not to release the report, then according to your logic, it is not disobedience.
DeleteI was told that Father Jeff gave out the report to the media EVEN BEFORE he gave it to the Seminary officials. If this is true, than this proves that Hon is not after truth but after sensationalism.
DeleteDear Anonymous at 9:37 pm,
DeleteFather Jeff knew that obeying his superiors was wrong. And if he really looked deep inside his heart, he will not like what he see.
Fr.Jeff and Mike plays modern day judas of escariot.
DeleteDear Anonymous at 7:37 pm,
DeleteFather Jeff admitted that he disobeyed his superiors because he gave the seminary report. I wonder how Father Jeff feels now that Father Mike disobeyed his orders when he instructed him to give out the petitions. I heard Father Mike said in the Patti Arroyo talk show that he did not give out the petitions and that the Church should focus on the victims. Does Father Jeff and Archbishop Hon even know,that some of the priests did not give out the petitions?