Sexual abuse victims’ chance to file lawsuits in old cases remains in question after court ruling

By KEVIN McGILL
Associated Press

Louisiana’s Supreme Court has sidestepped a ruling on the constitutionality of legislation that gave adult victims of childhood sexual abuse a renewed chance to file lawsuits. Legislation passed in 2021 gave victims until mid-2024 to file such lawsuits, even if preexisting time limits on such suits had expired. A lower court had declared the law unconstitutional. Victims advocates had hoped the state Supreme Court would reverse that finding. But the court said Tuesday that it was premature to rule on the constitutionality of the legislation because the victim in the pending case wasn’t eligible to sue.