Oregon law aimed at abusers not institutions, sponsor says

Published: 2004-09-02

PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) -- The man who sponsored Oregon's statute allowing sex-abuse lawsuits to be pursued many years after the crimes says the law was distorted by the courts before it was used in cases against the Archdiocese of Portland. Kevin Mannix, chairman of the Oregon Republican Party and a member of St. Joseph Parish in Salem, said the legislation he carried to unanimous approval in 1991 was meant as a tool to help victims get justice from their abusers after years of suppressing horrible memories. He had no intention of opening employers or institutions to liability, he said. "The trial lawyers will always go after the deep pockets," Mannix said in a telephone interview with the Catholic Sentinel, Portland archdiocesan newspaper, from New York, where he was attending the Republican National Convention. "Of course the church is the deep-pocket target, not the actual priest." The Archdiocese of Portland, facing financial pressure from impending trials on sex abuse claims, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July. The filing means that multimillion-dollar suits pending against the archdiocese will be settled in federal bankruptcy court along with possible future claims.

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