Altoona-Johnstown Diocese appeals court ruling

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Roman Catholic Cathedral in Altoona, PA (Darrell Sapp/ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Article Title

Altoona-Johnstown Diocese appeals court ruling

Link to Article:        https://www.tribdem.com/news/altoona-johnstown-diocese-appeals-court-ruling/article_22f19964-97c5-11e9-be5f-27eebf010f62.html

Source:  Tribune-Democrat

Author(s):  Dave Sutor

Date:  June 26, 2019 

Synopsis of / Excerpts from Article 

The Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown has challenged the ruling of a three-judge panel of the Pennsylvania Superior Court, which ruling reinstated a lawsuit against the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, alleging fraud, constructive fraud, and civil conspiracy.   

According to the article:  

In December 2017, Blair County Judge Jolene Kopriva dismissed a case brought by Renée Rice against the diocese, then-retired (now deceased) Bishop Joseph Adamec, the estate of deceased Bishop James Hogan and the Rev. Charles Bodziak because the abuse she alleged Bodziak committed, from 1975 or 1976 through 1981 when they were both at St. Leo’s Church in Altoona, was past the commonwealth’s statute of limitations.

A three-judge Superior Court of Pennsylvania panel overturned the decision earlier this month, stating that if a jury finds a confidential relationship existed that resulted in fraudulent concealment of information, then defendants cannot gain rulings in their favor based upon the statute of limitations expiring.

Rice’s attorney in the original hearing, Richard Serbin, argued that his client could not have known the full level of the diocese’s alleged effort to protect predator priests until the Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General released a grand jury report that provided details about the alleged decades-long coverup.

Serbin also contended a jury – not a judge – should determine if the statute of limitations applied and that a layperson could not have been expected to unearth an alleged conspiracy that required the full attorney general’s effort to reveal.

The judges agreed, saying the case should be remanded to the lower court.

Now, the diocese wants an “en banc” hearing, meaning before the entire Superior Court.

A Superior Court decision on whether to re-hear the case before the full bench is due Aug. 23.

 

 

Minnesota diocese reaches $34M settlement with abuse victims

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Multi-Million Dollar Settlement from Diocese of New Ulm in Minnesota
Article Title

Minnesota diocese reaches $34M settlement with abuse victims

Link to Article:       https://apnews.com/27285fd07efc4e5bbb9459865d55b37a

Source:  AP News

Author(s):  Associated Press

Date:  June 26, 2019 

Synopsis of / Excerpts from Article 

According to the article:  

The Diocese of New Ulm in Minnesota has reached a $34 million settlement in its bankruptcy case with 93 people who say they were sexually abused by priests and others, the diocese and an attorney representing survivors said Thursday.

Attorney Jeff Anderson, who represents many of the survivors, said the settlement includes contribution of $8 million from the diocese and its parishes with the rest coming from insurance carriers. If the bankruptcy court approves the plan, the survivors will vote, and then their claims will be evaluated to determine award amounts for the individuals.

Anderson praised the survivors for advancing the child protection movement and making their communities safer for children.

Bishop John LeVoir said the settlement represents the diocese’s commitment to finding a fair resolution for victims and survivors while continuing its ministry in southern and west-central Minnesota.

“I hope and pray that today’s settlement helps victims and survivors on their healing journey,” LeVoir said.

The diocese, which filed for bankruptcy protection in March 2017, previously agreed to release the names of priests credibly accused of sex abuse, Anderson said.

The New Ulm diocese is among several Roman Catholic dioceses in Minnesota that have filed for bankruptcy protection amid child sex abuse claims or are considering it.

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis emerged from bankruptcy last December, three months after a federal bankruptcy judge approved a $210 million settlement.

In May, the Diocese of Duluthreached a $40 million settlement with dozens of people who said they were abused as children by priests. The Diocese of Winona-Rochester filed for bankruptcy protection last November and currently is in mediation, a spokesman for the diocese said. The St. Cloud diocese announced its intention to file in February 2018 but hasn’t done so.

Largest N.M. Diocese Files for Bankruptcy in Wake Of Sex Abuse Claims

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Article Title

Largest N.M. Diocese Files for Bankruptcy in Wake Of Sex Abuse Claims

Link to Article:      https://www.insidesources.com/largest-n-m-diocese-files-for-bankruptcy-in-wake-of-sex-abuse-claims/

Source:  Inside Sources

Author(s):  Hiram Reisner

Date:  June 25, 2019 

Synopsis of / Excerpts from Article 

According to the article:  

New Mexico’s largest Roman Catholic diocese is facing nearly 400 claims of sexual abuse as part of a pending bankruptcy filing in the wake of the clergy sex abuse scandal.

Meanwhile, The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) says it finds it unjust that a Roman Catholic archdiocese can file for bankruptcy on a timetable in the first place.

The Archdiocese of Santa Fe filed for Chapter 11 reorganization last year, claiming diminished resources due to payments already made to victims. The archdiocese reported that 395 people filed claims against the church as of the June 17, 2019 bankruptcy filing deadline, including 374 claims involving sexual abuse allegations. The remaining 21 were connected to other complaints.

When it first announced its decision to file for reorganization, the archdiocese said it had already paid out $52 million in insurance money and its own funds to settle 300 previously filed claims. At least 78 clergy members were “credibly accused” of sexually abusing children, according to a an archdiocese list released last year.

At the time, Archbishop John Wester said more charges were likely and reorganization would be the best option to protect diminishing church assets.

Priests from around the country were sent to the state to get treatment for pedophilia, causing New Mexico to become a center for an expansive list of child abuse cases. Church documents, legal filings and testimony from victims, show the priests were later sent to parishes and schools across the state.

Resolving the bankruptcy case could be a long process, as lawyers will have to collect more information about the archdiocese’s finances to verify how much is available to divide among those who filed claims.

The archdiocese, the oldest in New Mexico, declared in the original bankruptcy filing it had nearly $50 million in assets, including real estate worth more than $31 million. The archdiocese also noted it had more than $57 million in property being held in trust for a number of parishes, and that property transfers worth an additional $34 million were completed over the past couple of years.

The actual number of people harmed by priest abuse in New Mexico is probably much larger than 400, says Albuquerque lawyer Levi Monagle, who is working with Brad D. Hall — an attorney who has been representing victims in New Mexico for more than 30 years.

“To have nearly 400 claims in an area as sparsely populated as the Archdiocese of Santa Fe is a testament to the depth of the crisis here,” Monagle told InsideSources. “It is a testament to the disproportionate suffering of New Mexican victims and their families and communities, and it puts the onus firmly on the archdiocese to confess and repent for the extent of its wrongdoing over the past 70-plus years.”

The claims filed will be sealed and remain confidential unless the claimant indicates he or she wants their information released. However, church documents related to abuse cases could be made public, and lawyers for some of the survivors hope the documents will reveal what has previously been a guarded process.

Catholic bishops adopt long-promised abuse plan — for bishops to police bishops

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Bishops can be policed only by other bishops — all in favor, raise your hands
Article Title

Catholic bishops adopt long-promised abuse plan — for bishops to police bishops

Link to Article:         https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2019/06/13/catholic-bishops-adopt-long-promised-abuse-plan-bishops-police-bishops/?utm_term=.12f5b922aec7

Source:  Washington Post

Author(s):  Julie Zauzmer and Michelle Boorstein

Date:  June 13, 2019 

Synopsis of / Excerpts from Article 

After a year of scandal, some disheartened believers say the new rules, which don’t require lay involvement, do not go far enough.   

On 06-13-2019, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops formally adopted new procedures for policing themselves in regard to the handling of clergy sexual abuse allegations.   But to some “aggrieved believers,” the procedures are inherently flawed because the power to decide what to actually do about such allegations remains entirely with archbishops, who may or may not call in civil authorities or lay investigators.      

According to the article:

“The bishops are the ones making the conclusions,” said Anne Burke, an Illinois Supreme Court justice who chaired the church’s National Review Board when the sexual abuse crisis first erupted in 2002. She called the new system enacted on Thursday “a fallacy.   “There should be no intermediary — call the police,” she said.   “There should be one interview, by professionals.”   

[The] new policy creates a national hotline, operated by an outside vendor, for Catholics to call or write with complaints that a bishop has abused a child, sexually harassed an adult or mishandled an abuse report.   

When the hotline receives a report, it will ordinarily relay it to a leading bishop in the region where the accused bishop works or worked. The bishop who receives the report will be responsible for reporting to law enforcement and to the Vatican, and for bringing in laypeople to help investigate the complaint. The measures also allow for bishops to direct the complaint calls to a layperson.   

That’s a far cry from the bishops’ original proposal, debated at their biannual meeting in November, which called for a national body of laypeople who would be empowered to investigate bishops. That idea collapsed when the Vatican insisted they wait until after a global bishops’ summit on sex abuse in February.   

“They’re finally doing the bare minimum,” said Adrienne Alexander, who organized nationwide protests calling for bishop accountability after a Pennsylvania grand jury report last summer revealed the extent of the abuse and coverup by the church. 

 

‘A landmark decision’: Court ruling could affect abuse cases, limit impact of statute of limitations

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Attorney Richard Serbin and his client Renee Rice, who has sued the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown for fraud and conspiracy (Dave Sutor/ Tribune-Democrat)
Article Title

‘A landmark decision’: Court ruling could affect abuse cases, limit impact of statute of limitations

Link to Article:        https://www.tribdem.com/news/a-landmark-decision-court-ruling-could-affect-abuse-cases-limit/article_b715b7b8-8d90-11e9-9726-0364ee092f77.html

Source:  Tribune-Democrat

Author(s):  Dave Sutor

Date:  June 13, 2019 

Synopsis of / Excerpts from Article 

In a unanimous decision, a three-judge panel of the Pennsylvania Superior Court has effectively reinstated a civil lawsuit against (1) the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, (2) then-retired (now deceased) Bishop Joseph Adamec, and (3) the estate of deceased Bishop James Hogan.   The suit alleges they committed fraud, constructive fraud and conspiracy by covering up abuse within the diocese.   The suit was filed in 2016 by Renee Rice.   

According to the article:  

Rice alleged she was abused by the Rev. Charles Bodziak, from when she was about 9 years old until age 14, during his time as pastor at St. Leo’s Church in Altoona.   

She did not file legal action for the abuse, but rather for the alleged coverup to protect predator priests within the diocese. She claimed to not have learned the full scope of the alleged conspiracy until the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General issued a grand jury report in 2016 that provided details of how the diocese – under the leadership of Hogan and Adamec – took steps to shield clergy members who sexually abused children.

Rice’s attorney, Richard Serbin, argued that the conspiracy continued until Bodziak was placed on leave in January 2016 or maybe even later until the grand jury report was issued in March 2016 and that a jury – not a judge – should determine when the statute of limitations had expired. He also felt that a layperson could not have been reasonably expected to learn about the alleged coverup that was not completely revealed until the attorney general’s office could use its full investigative powers.   

The suit had been dismissed by a Blair County judge (Jolene Kopriva) in December 2017.   In her opinion, the statute of limitations had expired.   The Superior Court panel overturned Kopriva’s decision, effectively reinstating the case.   

According to the article:  

In a unanimous opinion, written by Superior Court Judge Deborah Kunselman, the panel determined: “When, as here, a plaintiff alleges a fiduciary relationship with a religious institution or its leadership, based on her specific role(s) within the institution or based on a counselling relationship, this creates a jury question. If a jury finds sufficient facts to prove a confidential relationship, it may also find that the Church’s silence constituted a fraudulent concealment. Finally, under Ms. Rice’s alleged facts, she timely filed her third cause of action for civil conspiracy.”

The judges added: “Only a jury may determine whether Ms. Rice reasonably investigated the Diocesan Defendants for their intentional torts.”   

Serbin said the decision “gives some victims … of clergy child sex abuse … the opportunity, under certain circumstances, to file claims, which were heretofore considered outside the statute of limitations.   This is a landmark decision and will have impact far greater than my client’s case.”   

Catholic Church lobbying costs spiked in Pa. as statute of limitations debate raged

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Catholic Church Lobbying by State, 2011-2018
Article Title

Catholic Church lobbying costs spiked in Pa. as statute of limitations debate raged

Link to Article:           https://www.pennlive.com/politics/2019/06/catholic-church-lobbying-costs-spiked-in-pa-as-statute-of-limitations-debate-raged.html

Source:  Penn Live

Author(s):  Laura Benshoff of PA Post

Date:  June 11, 2019 

Synopsis of / Excerpts from Article 

According to the article:  

The Catholic Church spent more on lobbying efforts in Pennsylvania than in seven other northeastern U.S. states combined, according to a recent report covering 2011-2018.

The analysis, called “Church Influencing State: How the Catholic Church Spent Millions Against Survivors of Clergy Abuse,” draws a connection between lobbying expenditures and inaction on proposals that give victims of sexual abuse more chances to sue.   

The lawfirms behind the report — Williams Cedar, Seeger Weiss LLP, Abraham Watkins, and the Simpson Tuegel Law Firm — represent a total of more than 300 survivors of sexual abuse across the country.

Under Pennsylvania’s reporting requirements, lobbyists don’t have to link their work to specific legislation, just broad topics.

Data available through the Pennsylvania Department of State lobbying directory, though, shows an uptick in Catholic Church lobbying in 2017 and 2018, years that saw heated debate over proposals to reduce statute of limitations protections for alleged abusers.

Out of $10.6 million spent in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic during the time period reviewed, church officials laid out more than half in Pennsylvania, according to numbers the report authors pulled from public disclosure reports.

State totals 2011 – 2018

  • Pennsylvania – $5,322,579
  • New York – $2,912,772
  • Connecticut – $875,261
  • New Jersey – $633,458
  • Massachusetts – $537,551
  • New Hampshire – $134,345
  • Maine – $124,260
  • Rhode Island – $61,961

A year-by-year breakdown of spending by the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, the Church’s advocacy arm, shows peaks in 2012, 2017 and 2018, topping $700,000 each of those years.

In other states, such as New York, the report draws a clearer connection between lobbying and statute of limitations legislation: “The Church spent nearly $3 million on lobbying in New York, with 80 percent of that spending – $2,329,071 – going to a Church-sponsored policy arm called the Catholic Conference Policy Group, Inc.” That group has “the sole mission of lobbying on ‘statute of limitations, legislative issues, and liability issues,’” according to the report.

State rep. Mark Rozzi, (D-Berks), himself a survivor of priest abuse, said he has seen how these funds flow firsthand. After  the House of Representatives passed a victim-friendly bill in 2016 , he says the effort to quash it in the Senate was swift.

“The Catholic Conference hired 39 lobbyists to work 50 senators and made sure our bill failed,” he said. 

As bishops gather, prosecutors step up scrutiny of church

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Dana Nessel, Michigan Attorney General. (Paul Sancya/ Associated Press)
Article Title

As bishops gather, prosecutors step up scrutiny of church

Link to Article:     https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/as-bishops-gather-prosecutors-step-up-scrutiny-of-church/2019/06/11/70b5f81e-8c6e-11e9-b6f4-033356502dce_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.5abd00b079d8  

Source:  Washington Post

Author(s):  Juliet Linderman, Garance Burke and Martha Mendoza

Date:  June 11, 2019 

Synopsis of / Excerpts from Article 

States attorneys general across the nation are currently fine-tooth combing through mountains of files related to Catholic clergy sex abuse, which files they obtained via search warrants or subpoenas at dozens of Catholic dioceses.   These prosecutors are looking at bishops and other church hierarchy for wrong-doing in the form of coverup, obstruction, falsification, denial, and negligence.   Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is considering prosecution under state racketeering laws usually reserved for organized crime.   

According to the article:

“For decades, leaders of the Roman Catholic Church were largely left to police their own. But this week, as American bishops gather for a conference in Baltimore to confront the reignited sex-abuse crisis, they’re facing the most scrutiny ever from secular law enforcement.”

“An Associated Press query of more than 20 state and federal prosecutors last week found they are looking for legal means to hold higher ups in the church accountable. They have raided diocesan offices, subpoenaed files, set up victim tip lines and launched sweeping investigations into new and old allegations. Thousands of people have called hotlines nationwide…”   

“Attorneys general…use a range of tools.   Michigan executed search warrants, which means police raid church offices.   Delaware, West Virginia and Nebraska have issued subpoenas, making a legal request for the records.”    

“Statute of limitation rules differ, and are being tested. In Michigan, for example, the clock stops if a priest moved out of state for a period.”   

“In recent years, civil lawsuits have used racketeering laws leading to large settlements. Delaware-based attorney Stephen Neuberger, who has successfully sued the church on behalf of clergy abuse victims, said questions inevitably arise about church authorities covering up and facilitating for accused priests. He said organized crime statutes seem appropriate.   ‘It’s not piling on,’ he said. ‘In fact I think it’s long overdue.’”   

Three priests accused of enabling W.Va. bishop’s ‘predatory and harassing conduct’ resign

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Vicars enabled and covered up Bishop’s financial and sexual malfeasance
Article Title

Three priests accused of enabling W.Va. bishop’s ‘predatory and harassing conduct’ resign

Link to Article:           https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/three-priests-accused-of-enabling-wva-bishops-predatory-and-harassing-conduct-resign/2019/06/10/507fbf30-8bc9-11e9-b08e-cfd89bd36d4e_story.html?utm_term=.32bd278d85ee&wpisrc=al_news__alert-national&wpmk=1

Source:  Washington Post

Author(s):  Robert O’Harrow Jr. and Shawn Boberg

Date:  June 10, 2019 

Synopsis of / Excerpts from Article 

According to the article: 

Three high-ranking priests who allegedly enabled “predatory and harassing conduct” by Bishop Michael J. Bransfield when he was leader of the Catholic Church in West Virginia have resigned from their leadership posts, church officials announced Monday.

A statement from Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore gave no reason for the resignations. But the three monsignors — Frederick Annie, Anthony Cincinnati and Kevin Quirk — are central figures in a scandal over alleged sexual and financial misconduct by Bransfield, according to a confidential report described in a Washington Post story last week.

The report by five lay Catholics was completed in February and submitted to the Vatican. Lori’s statement said Annie resigned in September, around the time the Vatican launched its investigation. Quirk and Cincinnati resigned on Monday, Lori said.

The report alleges that Bransfield spent $2.4 million in church money on travel, including chartered jets, and that he and his aides spent nearly $1,000 a month on alcohol, among many other personal luxuries.

Citing church financial documents, The Post reported that Bransfield also gave cash gifts totaling $350,000 to fellow clergymen over his 13 years at the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, including young priests he is accused of mistreating and more than a dozen cardinals in the United States and at the Vatican. The church reimbursed him by boosting his compensation, the records show.

The opaque finances that enable the Catholic Church’s abuse scandal

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Bransfield, Former Bishop of Wheeling-Charleston W Va, 2017 (CNS/Colleen Rowan, The Catholic Spirit)
Article Title

The opaque finances that enable the Catholic Church’s abuse scandal

Link to Article:         https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-opaque-finances-that-enable-the-catholic-churchs-abuse-scandal/2019/06/09/d6386cca-8968-11e9-a491-25df61c78dc4_story.html?utm_term=.a9bfa7ef1450

Source:  Washington Post

Author(s):  Editorial Board

Date:  June 09, 2019 

Synopsis of / Excerpts from Article 

There is a connection between the financial corruption in the Catholic Church and the hierarchy’s inability to to satisfactorily address the ongoing problem of clergy sex abuse.   This nexus is facilitated by a law that “exempts religious institutions and affiliated charitable entities from financial reporting that is required of other nonprofit organizations.”   

According to the article:

“Even as the Vatican, seeking to move beyond its protracted season of scandal, calls for a new era of transparency, the church’s finances in the United States remain opaque.”   

“That apparent discrepancy between rhetoric and reality was highlighted by a stunning account in The Postfocusing on the opulent lifestyle, and extravagant palm-greasing, undertaken for years by the now-disgraced former bishop of West Virginia, Michael J. Bransfield.   The story revealed that Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, who oversaw an investigation into sexual harassment allegations against Mr. Bransfield, whitewashed the resulting report to expunge the fact that he — along with 10 other of the most prominent and influential clerics in the United States and the Vatican — were paid thousands of dollars from what amounted to a slush fund controlled by the bishop.”   

“The fact that the slush fund, which dispensed $350,000, was controlled by the free-spending, large-living bishop of West Virginia, one of the poorest states in the nation, is a self-evident irony. That the funds were lavished not just on cardinals but also on some of the young priests whom Mr. Bransfield is accused of abusing and molesting speaks to the conspiracy of silence at the heart of the church’s sex abuse scandal.”   

“Other nonprofit organizations are required to file tax forms detailing their finances, called Form 990s, which are available to the public; the disclosure provides one check on abuse. Religious organizations are not required to file 990s.”   

Catholic Church Spent Millions Fighting Laws That Help Sexual Abuse Victims: Report

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Catholic Church spent $10M lobbying against best interests of victims of priest sex abuse
Article Title

Catholic Church Spent Millions Fighting Laws That Help Sexual Abuse Victims: Report

Link to Article:       https://www.huffpost.com/entry/catholic-church-lobbying-sexual-abuse-reform_n_5cf93a92e4b0e63eda9726a1?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAC0uYePiGD427yc1MrC_ktDwDLWO3qDIZfbw_ygvt0v7eHeSdWyNEEa1f6EBr-GcKUgPN42xxMjriqCae-lFWts_J8kHu7O3mdFQYbyEtBSxkFA8_xAaocEt9r9CQ_YuncV6qDqGfcNuYDHK7vduJ65-1wT9s53XN3EW4cxBJFmP   

Source:  Huffington Post

Author(s):  Carol Kuruvilla

Date:  June 07, 2019 

Synopsis of / Excerpts from Article 

According to the article:  

A new study says that the church poured at least $10.6 million into lobbying efforts in eight Northeastern states.

The Catholic Church has spent at least $10.6 million lobbying against legislation that gives sexual abuse victims more time to seek justice in courts ― and that’s in the Northeast alone, according to a new report.

Church funds have gone toward attempts to oppose statute-of-limitations reform in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island between 2011 and 2018, the report released by four law firms on Tuesday suggested.

The law firms ― Williams Cedar, Seeger Weiss, Abraham Watkins, and Simpson Tuegel ― have collectively represented  more than 300 survivors of clerical sexual abuse across the country. They  obtained the data about the church’s lobbying efforts from public filings.

Gerald Williams, a partner at Williams Cedar, said the church’s lobbying contradict its promises to prioritize victims and take accountability for clerical sexual abuse. 

“We’ve heard a lot about the church’s desire to be accountable and turn over a new leaf,” Williams told CBS.  “But when we turn to the form where we can most help people and where we can get the most justice — the courts of justice — the church has been there blocking their efforts.”

Of the eight states studied, the largest amount of lobbying money ― $5.3 million ― appears to have been spent in Pennsylvania. Last August, Pennsylvania’s attorney general, Josh Shapiro, released the results of a  two-year grand jury investigation into sexual abuse and cover-up in six Catholic dioceses in the state. The investigation identified over 1,000 victims and 301 “predator priests,” and jurors recommended changes to the state’s statute of limitations.

Shapiro  told NBC News that he believes the church’s “extensive lobbying” in his state shows that it cannot be trusted to police itself. “It’s reprehensible that the church continues to spend significant sums of money fighting these reforms, instead of protecting and supporting the victims of clergy sexual abuse,” he said.

The Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, the lobbying arm for bishops in that state, told HuffPost that it has not reviewed the law firms’ report. 

Marci Hamilton, CEO of the advocacy organization Child USA, laughed when HuffPost informed her of Poust’s claim that New York’s Catholic bishops have long supported statute-of-limitations reform.

As for the law firms’ report, Hamilton said that, if anything, it likely undercounts the amount of money the Catholic Church has spent on lobbying in Northeastern states.

Catholic dioceses have also bought insurance coverage against child sexual abuse claims. As a result, the insurance industry has also invested heavily in blocking statute-of-limitations reform, Hamilton said. 

“The report is helpful, but it’s just scratching the surface of the might of the lobbying efforts against victims,” she said.