Baltimore judge orders temporary stay of Child Victims Act cases

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A Baltimore City Circuit Court judge has imposed a temporary stay on civil cases filed in the court under the Maryland Child Victims Act, citing the “unprecedented influx” of cases filed under the 2023 legislation in recent weeks and months.

In an administrative order filed Monday, Judge Audrey J.S. Carrión ruled that all 1,269 Child Victims Act cases filed on or after Oct. 1, 2023 are stayed temporarily while the circuit court awaits guidance from the Maryland Rules Committee and Maryland Supreme Court as to how Child Victims Act cases should be managed.

Judge Yvette Bryant, chair of the Rules Committee, formed a special subcommittee to look into the possibility of any rules changes that may be needed in response to the Child Victims Act, a spokesperson for the Maryland Judiciary confirmed in an email.

The order does not bar new Child Victims Act cases from being filed, and does not affect the stay issued in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore’s bankruptcy case. The order applies only to cases filed in the Baltimore City Circuit Court.

“The decision to stay these cases is in large part due to ongoing discussions about possible ways to manage these cases collectively for pretrial and discovery purposes,” Carrión wrote in the order. “In reaching the decision to temporarily stay these cases, the Court has weighed the understandable desire of parties to proceed with litigating these cases as well as the need for consistency, efficiency, and fairness.”

The Child Victims Act ended the statute of limitations on lawsuits against the institutions that enabled abusers, allowing victims to come forward late in life.

The law, which took effect Oct. 1, 2023, came after the Maryland attorney general published a report documenting decades of abuse within the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy days before the Child Victims Act took effect in an effort to limit costs due to an expected avalanche of claims.

The state itself also faces significant liability for child sexual abuse, as several thousand people have sued over abuse in juvenile detention centers and other settings. The prospect of having to pay billions in damages, while also having to plug a $3.3 billion budget deficit, prompted the Maryland General Assembly to significant amend the Child Victims Act at the end of its legislative session to reduce the amount victims could receive.

The amendment gave victims less than two months to decide if they want to file a claim, or wait to file and potentially win much less money.