Wednesday, September 10, 2008

We can open the civil statute of limitations for one year for ALL victims regardless of age or how long ago the sex-abuse occurred!

The passage of this bill which will open the civil statute of limitations for one year for ALL victims regardless of age or how long ago the abuse occurred. The ensuing flood of lawsuits would deal a death blow to the bad guys.

Write your State Senator

Although the New York State Assembly has passed the Child Victims Act by an overwhelming bi-partisan vote, the work is only half done. State Senate leader Joseph Bruno has inexplicably prevented the Act from coming to a vote in the Senate. Please strongly ask your Senator to urge the leader to release this bill for a fair vote.

By telling a bit of your personal story in the letter, even in one sentence, you will make the letter more memorable and effective.

1 - Are you a parent or grandparent?
2 - Survivor of child sexual abuse or a relative or friend of a survivor?
3 - Concerned member of an institution in which children have been abused?
4 - Mental health or medical professional?
5 - law enforcement officer?
6 - Social worker?
7 - substance abuse counselor?
8 - Teacher?

Should you send an e-mail?

Not all legislators check emails regularly, but do pay attention to personal, especially hand-written, letters. You might call your Senator's office to ask how e-mails are handled.

Sample Letter to your Senator:

To find your Senator's name and address, click here and enter your zip code.

Dear Senator (NAME),

I am a constituent writing to voice my strong desire to have the Child Victim’s Act, S4614-A, brought to the Senate floor for a fair vote. Please give your full and active support to this important legislation for the safety of our children. I know that many others in your district are outraged because children are not being protected while their predators are shielded by the law.

I support this bill for two key reasons: (1) it will expose sexual predators who have molested and raped in the past and are still victimizing children. In fact, many children are at risk right now and will remain at risk because of our archaic statute of limitations; (2) I believe that childhood sexual abuse victims deserve a day in court to confront their sexual abusers and those who enabled them.

New York needs both an extension of the statute of limitations and a temporary “window” that will suspend the SOL for just one year. The Markey-Saland Child Victims Act (A04560B-S4614A) meets both of these criteria. Our children must have the passage of this Act, without amendments.

Mental health practitioners have testified that many people who were sexually abused as children do not have the ability to come forward until decades have passed. Courts have recognized the validity of repression of memory and recovery after decades.

Yet, New York's law is too weak in this regard. Under current law, victims have only five years after maturity for prosecution or to make a claim for damages. Once the statute of limitations has expired, they have no recourse to justice. But their perpetrators are often still at large, and are certain to harm more innocent children. When California established a window in its SOL, more than 300 previously undetected predators were discovered. A state the size of New York undoubtedly has a large number of predators still roaming free. Further evidence is the estimate by the U.S. Department of Justice that barely 10% of sexual abuse is ever reported to law enforcement authorities.

New York must take this opportunity to strengthen the protection of our children. Delaware recently became the second state to reform its SOL. Other states are considering it. Now it is New York's turn. The Assembly has overwhelmingly approved the Act in a bi-partisan vote. More specifically, it is now the Senate's turn.

We must pass this strong bill without amendment. Don’t let pedophiles use our state’s laws against children. Please take the side of our children.

Thank you for attending to this important issue. Thanks, too, for all you do to serve the people of your district and State of New York.

Sincerely,

[Name and full street address and phone number. E-mail address is a plus, too.}

8 comments:

  1. Obama, McCain Agree: No Big Exit Packages for Fannie, Freddie CEOs

    Posted Sep 10, 2008

    They say politics make strange bedfellows, but it's really no surprise both John McCain and Barack Obama are protesting the pay packages due to the outgoing CEOs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

    "It would be unacceptable for executives of these institutions to earn a windfall at a time when (the) U.S. Treasury has taken unprecedented steps to rescue these companies with taxpayer resources," Obama said.

    While I wince at the term "windfall," it's hard to disagree with Obama's major point.

    After collecting over $17 million since 2003, Freddie CEO Richard Syron is eligible to receive as much as $14 million in additional compensation. Fannie's Daniel Mudd is eligible for a $9.3 million "exit package" after pocketing $12.4 million in compensation since 2004.

    Although such sums pale in comparison to the packages granted to outgoing Wall Street CEOs like Stan O'Neal and Chuck Prince, it's hard to justify any additional compensation, given the performance of Fannie and Freddie.

    Syron, for one, may forfeit some of the bounty, the Wall Street Journal says, and Henry Blodget thinks both he and Mudd should relinquish all of it. Rather than leave it up to the regulators, my advice is to let the shareholders decide; yes, the same shareholders who didn't get to vote on the government plan which effectively wiped them out.

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  2. Who is the askan brother????





    From the other side of the 'story' 9/10/08 - 11:10 AM
    Been there - new jersey

    Congratulations, Rabbi Horowitz.
    I am a mother of a couple of kids, married B'H to a wonderful man, and have been molested a couple of times by an older brother, may he fry in hell when his time comes. I am now in therapy, which was brought on by a major depression, and have uncovered this traumatic experience from when i was a kid. This is something that i was always desparately in 'denial' about and thought it would 'go away' for lack of anything else of what i thought i could do about it.

    Although my parents knew of one of the incidents- forced "french kissing" when i was nine (and for all those whose stomache is strong enough, oral sex when i was six!) they opted for the 'ignorance is bliss' atittude. Going thru the ramifications now soo many years later is such a horrifically painful experience i only wish it on my enemies, my brother included.

    i have confronted my brother, to which at first he apologized about it and 'felt terrible' however, when i got more angry thru thye therapy process and starting venting my justifiable anger to him it got to much for him so he 'took it all back' confession and all.Suddenly i was hallucinating and making up things that never existed and i have to 'be careful' with what i dare say to anyone because then i will be harming his wife and kids and ruining his family!!!

    Now i am not only dealing with the hurt and pain, i was also given the additional 'job' to protect him from what he did!!!

    Nevertheless i have shared the incident with some of my siblings and he knows that. However while the support level ranges from very bad ("it is over and done with, now what could you do about it...") to okay, i still feel restricted about my feelings.

    My therapist, which costs me over 1,000 bucks a month (money i don't have) keeps encouraging me and supporting me in the fact that i have no responsibility to protect him whatsoever. Oh but the denial out there, the wonderful denial that we live with. Were i to share this info with people who know him (he is an 'askan' in the community) how likely it is for it to bounce back at me as someone spreading lies about an upstandin member of our community.

    Rabbi Horowitz, i too dream of the day thst molesters would need police escorts, and molestees wouldn't feel the incredible burden of fearing to ruin the family lfe of these molesters (as my parents beg, "they are are grandchildren, how could i make such a thing public-and ruin 'thier name'")

    I will recover, together with my therapists health,regardles, and maybe even in spite of what happens to him. However there is so much added unneccesary pain, by being 'forced' to keep it a secret by our community.

    Thank you Rabbi Horowitz for at least allowing me to do this much.

    Just one question on that terrific article-Can there really be a 'frum' pedophile? isn't that an oxymoron?!?

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  3. http://www.yahoo.com/s/256153/*http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080910/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_helicopter

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  4. Ohel will oppose this bill. It will open up to many old problems for them.

    Ohel Insider.
    contact David Mandel
    dm@ohelfamily.org

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  5. Shelly Silver won the Democratic Party Primary for his district yesterday.

    He and his Agudah associates are the biggest obstacle to stopping molestation in NY State.

    Couldn't UOJ & Boog have mobilized voters to defeat him? It was the first time in years that he even had a serious challenger.

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  6. What should I do I know of a situation whereby the man is now 32 yrs old was molested by his first cousin when he was a young, 11 or 12. This went on for several years.
    when the 32 yr old broke his engagementin his 20's his sexual abuse haunted him turned to drugs depression and suicide. He is now in an out patient drug facility after being there for 6 months.My question is, his parents never confronted their nephew in the family still allows him now married with children of his own into the family. The abuser's mother and father have no knowledge that the abuse took place. Do I as an outsider with this knowledge have the responsibility to tell the parents of the abuser what took place or mind my own business?

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  7. http://rischandioraysa.blogspot.com/

    Please check out this Kiddush Hashem at Telshe Yeshiva

    This is all TRUE

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  8. Yisroel Belsky - The - # 1 - Most Dangerous Person To Klal Yisroel!

    Different Hat - Same Terrorist!

    HE is the brother in law of MOSHE BARKIN, WHO IS LEADING THE MACHLOKES IN CLEVELAND OHIO AGAINST TELSHE YESHIB=VA

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