1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

Dear Governor Newsom, Please do the right thing and veto SB 577. Send it back to the Legislature to find a more fair and balanced solution to justice for survivors of childhood sexual abuse. I am deeply troubled that SB 577 would impose a higher evidentiary burden on older survivors who are bringing claims against public entities. If you’re not helping survivors to step forwards, then you’re helping pedophiles, rapists, and organizations that enabled them get away with despicable acts in the name of fiscal responsibility. For survivors whose abuse occurred decades ago, SB 577's higher burden of proof makes cases that are already difficult to prove in court that much more challenging to even make it to court in the first place. Institutional records disappear and employees are harder to find, let alone admit knowledge of misconduct. And reducing the statute of limitations places even more pressure on survivors to process their trauma when we should be giving them the space they need to heal before coming forward. Defendants deserve due process, but survivors must also be able prove their claims in court. Fairness must run both ways. And SB 577 makes justice inaccessible to the very people that these laws are intended to protect in the first place: children. Please veto SB 577. Give survivors a fair chance to have their claims heard on the evidence available instead of demanding they overcome a hurdle that few will be able to meet