February 2025: Berman & Simmons Asks Maine Supreme Court to Reconsider
On February 11, 2025, Attorneys Mike Bigos, Tim Kenlan, Charlie King, and Joseph Gousse filed a Motion to Reconsider in Dupuis. According to the Motion, the Court’s decision in Dupuis never examined whether Maine’s lifting of the statute of limitations in sex abuse cases satisfied due process.
Noting that the legislature is free to interfere with far more fundamental civil rights than rights here, the Motion challenges the notion that “vested rights” are allowed absolute constitutional protection without considering due process. If the government may act to deprive a citizen of their life (e.g. death penalty), property (e.g. eminent domain), and liberty (e.g. military draft, child custody, voting rights, access to firearms, incarceration, etc.) within the bounds of due process, then why may it not interfere with the right to be free from a tort claim?
The Plaintiffs argue that under a proper due process analysis, the lifting of the statute of limitations should be found to be constitutional. Under the Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure, there is no set deadline for the Court to act on the Motion for Reconsideration.
We Continue to Fight for Survivors of Sexual Abuse
Berman & Simmons has pursued justice for survivors of childhood sexual abuse for many years and will continue to do so. Though disappointed by the Court’s decision, the enduring pain caused by childhood sexual abuse remains. The survivors are not done seeking justice and our passion to help them is unchanged. We are not giving up.
[1] 14 M.R.S. § 752-C(3).
