EDITORIAL: Open the lawsuit window: Abuse victims need a chance at justice

Jan. 6—THE scandalous moment comes late in the 1968 cinematic version of "Romeo and Juliet," directed by Franco Zeffirelli.

Romeo, played by 16-year-old Leonard Whiting, and 15-year-old Olivia Hussey's Juliet are parting company before her relatives — who don't know that the two have just wed — arrive to kill him.

In the film, viewers get fleeting glimpses of Hussey's bare breasts, and Whiting's naked backside.

Hussey and Whiting — now 72 and 71, respectively — have filed a lawsuit in California seeking more than $500 million from Paramount Pictures, which made the movie.

In the suit, their claims include allegations that Zeffirelli, who died in 2019, coerced the two minors to play the scene in the nude.

This lawsuit is possible only because California has temporarily suspended the statute of limitations for child sex abuse. The Associated Press said the legislation has, "led to a host of new lawsuits and revival of many others that were previously dismissed.

Pennsylvania could have a similar law in a few months. It would be long overdue.

In 2018, a state grand jury investigation led by Attorney General Josh Shapiro, now governor-elect, revealed that 300 Catholic Church officials in 54 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties, including Mercer, victimized more than 1,000 children.

Unfortunately, justice and accountability remain out of reach for many who had been victimized years — even decades — earlier, because the statute of limitation had long since expired.

Statutes of limitations for child sex abuse are pernicious. Child victims are made to feel ashamed of the acts of predators.

So they keep the crimes a secret.

A 2019 state law eliminated the statute of limitations for sex crimes against children. Shapiro said, had that law been in effect at the time of the cases cited in his grand jury, "we'd have more than 100 predator priests behind bars."

Instead, the authorities were able to prosecute only two.

The 2019 legislation, adopted in the wake of Shapiro's grand jury report, helps future sex crime victims, but does nothing for previous ones.

The grand jury's recommendations included a call for Pennsylvania to adopt a lawsuit window, which would allow victims to seek financial accountability from institutions that prey on children.

Pennsylvania's legislature opted to open a lawsuit window by means of a constitutional amendment, which requires passage during two consecutive legislative sessions, followed by a statewide referendum.

And the House and Senate did that in the 2019-20 and 2021-22 sessions. But the Pennsylvania Department of State botched advertising the amendment, forcing the legislature to start again, and delaying justice for victims who aren't getting any younger.

Now, the legislature has another chance. But the clock is ticking.

The House and Senate have until the beginning of next month to pass the amendment in time for a referendum on the May primary ballot.

It's encouraging, in an era of partisan division, that both parties recognize the need to hold predators accountable and help their victims heal.

Newly elected state House Speaker Mark Rozzi, who was elected as a Democrat, and his Republican predecessor, Bryan Cutler, both have listed a lawsuit window among their legislative priorities.

That's the good news.

The not-so-good news is that those victims have already waited too long for the only justice many of them will ever get.

It's long past time to get this done.

We — first the legislature, then the state's voters — need to open the lawsuit window.