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Email letters to staylor@coloradocommunitymedia.com e Colorado Supreme Court said that despite the careful legal maneuvering, the law was still deemed unconstitutional.

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Proponents split the two proposals into two measures in 2021, and Senate Bill 73, eliminating the statute of limitations, passed and was signed into law. ( e statute of limitations gave child sex abuse survivors six years after they turned 18 to le a legal action.)

Senate Bill 88 tried to get around the constitutional prohibition on reviving a claim for which the statute of limitations has run out by creating an entirely new civil cause of action.

“For the same reason that the legislature cannot revive time-barred claims, it cannot create a new cause of action that covers the same con duct and apply it retroactively,” the court’s ruling said. “We certainly understand the General Assembly’s desire to right the wrongs of past decades by permitting such victims to hold abusers and their enablers accountable. But the General As sembly may accomplish its ends only through constitutional means.” e Supreme Court’s decision came in a case led by a woman who sued Aurora Public Schools. She said she was sexually abused by a coach at Rangeview High School in the early 2000s, alleging that the coach made her perform oral sex on him over 100 times during her four years at the school, starting when she was 14. She said it wasn’t until 2007 that she began to fully understand what had happened to her, but when she reported the abuse to police, authorities told her the statute of limitations had run out. e case was tossed out by a lower court on grounds that Senate BIll 88 was unconstitutional, which prompted the woman to le an appeal with the state’s highest court. e court’s 40-page ruling may have policy implications far beyond Senate Bill 88. e Colorado Coalition Against survivors don’t disclose what happened to them until after they turn

“ is is probably a bill that will go down in history as one that Colorado law students will study,” said Rep. Matt Soper, a Delta Republican and attorney who also was a lead sponsor of Senate Bill 88.

“While the Supreme Court’s decision … takes away their opportunity for justice and accountability in Colorado, it does not invalidate the harm they experienced nor their strength in telling their story,” Brie Franklin, executive director of the nonpro t, said in a written state- ment. “CCASA remains committed to changing laws and systems to promote safety, justice and healing for all survivors. Regardless of when the sexual abuse happened, survivors can still get help and support from community-based programs and through healing services.”

Michaelson Jenet, Danielson and Soper said they will work to nd another avenue to give victims of historic child sex abuse their day in court, but admitted their options appear both unclear and limited.

“I’m not willing to let it drop,” Michaelson Jenet said. “I do still believe that victims deserve their day in court. I want to gure out a way to make that happen.”

Michael Nimmo, a Colorado attorney representing clients who were sexually abused as kids, said he’s interested in amending the Colorado Constitution to remove the language barring retrospective laws, though he acknowledges that’s a tall — and pricey — task that would require voter approval.

He said the U.S. Constitution doesn’t have such language, and thus it doesn’t appear in most state constitutions either. at’s why other state’s have been able to open windows of opportunity for survivors of historic child sex abuse to sue.

“In my opinion, the Colorado Constitution should mimic the U.S. Constitution,” he said. “I think if it’s OK for the U.S. Constitution, why is it not OK for Colorado’s?”

Nimmo said he has roughly 35 clients who had already led cases under Senate Bill 88 or were hoping to. It’s not clear how many lawsuits had been led under Senate Bill 88 when the Supreme Court issued its ruling, but it’s likely well into the dozens.

Nimmo, said one silver lining is that the Colorado Supreme Court didn’t strike down all of Senate Bill 88. e measure still allows recent and future child sex abuse survivors to overcome the government’s protections from nancial consequences in lawsuits, a right they didn’t have before.

He said while he felt the legal arguments for why Senate Bill 88 was constitutional were strong, he always knew there was a chance a court would disagree. He said lawyers frequently take a chance with their legal interpretations.

“I never once thought 100% this law was constitutional,” he said. “We thought we had a way to make this complicit with our constitution. We were wrong.” is story is from e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun. com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.