This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at kunc.org.
A group of Colorado Democrats are again trying to allow victims of childhood sexual abuse to sue over decades-old allegations. A similar effort was unable to pass the legislature last year.
They want to create a path for the legislature to provide victims with the opportunity to file civil lawsuits against their abusers and institutions that shielded them, even if the statutes of limitations on their cases have already expired.
Their legislation, Senate Concurrent Resolution 25-002, proposes changing the Colorado Constitution to make that happen.
"Today is another day that reflects years of struggle and heartbreak, a day that exists because this legislature has yet to fully answer the call of survivors who have shared their pain with us time and time again," said Sen. Jessie Danielson of Wheat Ridge, who is leading the effort. "Predators thrive in environments that allow their behavior to go unchecked."
Danielson was one of the lawmakers behind a bipartisan law that removed statute of limitations from childhood sexual abuse cases in 2022, but that didn't lift limits from cases that had already run out of time by then.
Another piece of legislation passed at the same time tried to open a three-year window for victims to sue over cases dating back to the 1960s. But the measure was overturned by the Colorado Supreme Court on the basis that it violated rules in the state constitution against passing retroactive laws.
Danielson first tried to change the rule last year, but it failed to get the two-thirds majority vote needed to pass a constitutional amendment. It needed a single Senate Republican to support it along with all the chamber's Democrats, but the Republican caucus united against it.
This year, Danielson and co-sponsors Sen. Dafna Michaelson of Commerce City and House Majority Leader Monica Duran of Wheat Ridge brought back the same resolution. It cleared its first committee hearing Tuesday with a party-line vote.
Angie Witt is a childhood sexual abuse victim who has been working with lawmakers on the issue for the past few years. She says she was sexually assaulted by her pastor when she was 7 years old but hasn't been able to sue because the abuse happened decades ago and the statute of limitations expired before 2022.
Witt didn't expect last year's resolution to fail.
"I think what's not realized by those who voted against the measure is that there are life consequences for survivors of childhood sexual abuse," she said ahead of this week's hearing. "It's not understood the impact to those of us who are survivors. This is something that impacts every single aspect of life."
The next step for this year's resolution is the full Senate chamber, where it failed last year. If the Senate, and then the House, ultimately approve the measure, it will need to get approval from voters at the ballot box, another requirement for constitutional changes.
Only then could lawmakers introduce legislation to open a retroactive window for child sexual abuse victims.
If that doesn't happen and the measure fails, Danielson said supporters of the effort will turn to the public, by collecting signatures and trying to get a citizen-initiated measure on the ballot instead.
This story was produced by the Capitol News Alliance, a collaboration between KUNC News, Colorado Public Radio, Rocky Mountain PBS, and The Colorado Sun, and shared with Rocky Mountain Community Radio and other news organizations across the state. Funding for the Alliance is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
