FOR YOUR PRACTICE | LITIGATION
The Supreme Court of Maryland Deems the Child Victims Act of 2023 Constitutional BY JASON D. MEDINGER, ESQ.
The Child Victims Act of 2023 has faced significant legal challenges since its enactment, primarily concerning its retroactive application to revive previously time-barred claims of child sexual abuse. The law eliminated all time restrictions for filing civil actions arising from childhood sexual abuse, thereby allowing survivors to bring lawsuits that had been barred under prior statutes of limitations. In response, several institutional defendants, including religious organizations and school boards, contested the Act’s constitutionality, arguing that its retroactive application unlawfully abrogated vested rights. The Supreme Court of Maryland recently addressed these challenges and ultimately upheld the constitutionality of the Act’s retroactive application.1 The decision turned on whether a provision of the 2017 law that previously governed such claims constituted a statute of repose—which would have conferred
The Child Victims Act of 2023 has faced significant legal challenges since its enactment, primarily concerning its retroactive application to revive previously time-barred claims of child sexual abuse.
vested rights upon expiration—or a statute of limitations, which could be repealed without violating due process principles. The court concluded that the 2017 provision was a statute of limitations and, as such, did not create vested rights. Consequently, the General Assembly’s repeal of the provision in 2023 did not violate constitutional protections. 1
Roman Catholic Archbishop of Washington v. John Doe, et al., No. 9, September Term,2024; Board of Education of Harford County, et al. v. John Doe, No. 10, September Term, 2024; The Key School, Inc., et al. v. Valerie Bunker, Misc. No. 2, September Term, 2024
MARYLAND BAR JOURNAL | VOLUME 6 ISSUE 3
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