Opinion Piece: Bill’s opponents must be hiding something from public

Letter to the editor, published in The News Journal, April 5, 2007

On March 21, I attended the Senate hearing on Senate Bill 29, the Child Victim’s Bill. On March 23, I went to see the movie “Amazing Grace.” The parallels are truly amazing! In both situations there are victims and their supporters crying out for justice; on the other side there are those vehemently opposed to justice because of money.

Now, as then, the focus of the opposition is on the fear of the possibility of great financial losses for some with little or no consideration for the suffering of the victims. Now, as then, those opposed want justice to take a back seat to money.

We now have the opportunity to make justice a priority, which is what our churches encourage us to do. We can let out legislators know we support the Child Victim’s Act as proposed. Expanding the time to allow victims of sexual abuse to bring civil action against their predators is the right thing to do.

The truth is that in this country there are numerous safeguards for defendants to be treated fairly; credible evidence, with or without the passage of time, must be presented for any case to proceed, and judges readily dismiss cases that lack merit.

What is the fear? What person of integrity would deny justice in favor of money? What is really fair? We are very much in need of amazing grace.

Loretta Kilby, Wilmington