Danielson & Fields Measure to Protect Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse Clears Committee

Resolution would refer measure to give voters opportunity to protect children from sexual abuse and hold perpetrators accountable

DENVER, CO – A measure sponsored by Senators Jessie Danielson, D-Wheat Ridge, and Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora, that, if passed, would ask voters to amend the Colorado state constitution to protect children from sexual abuse by holding perpetrators accountable cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee today.

SCR24-001 would refer a measure to voters on the November 2024 ballot that, if approved, would amend the state constitution and create a narrow exception to the constitution’s ban on laws that apply to past conduct for child sexual abuse civil claims. The amendment would pave the way for the General Assembly to take action and allow survivors of child sexual abuse to pursue legal action against their abusers and any institution complicit in the abuse.

“For too long, Colorado law has failed victims of childhood sexual abuse,” Danielson said. “We are asking the people of Colorado to stand with survivors who were abused as children, and to hold not only the predators accountable, but institutions and organizations who swept it under the rug as well.”

“The current statute of limitations for victims to pursue child sexual abuse claims denies them the chance to seek justice after undergoing years of trauma and possible recovery,” said Fields. “Statutes of limitations are the tool most often used to deny and defeat claims of sexual abuse, but healing from trauma has no timeline. That is why the civil statute of limitations needs to be eliminated. Survivors in Colorado deserve the ability to access the civil legal system on their own schedule.”

In 2021, Colorado passed the bipartisan Child Sexual Abuse Accountability Act, joining 29 other states and territories in giving survivors of childhood sexual abuse an opportunity to pursue civil claims against those responsible for their abuse, regardless of when it happened. Last summer the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the lookback window was unconstitutional because it violated the state constitution’s ban on “retrospective” laws. SCR24-001 would update the state constitution to allow for such a law to pass in the future.

To successfully refer SCR24-001 to Colorado voters as a constitutional amendment, it will require at least two-thirds support in both chambers, and would need to garner at least 55 percent of the vote in November. 

SCR24-001 will now move to the full Senate for further consideration. Track the bill’s progress HERE.