Summary

The consortium of Greater Baltimore law firms comprised of civil rights litigators from Jenner Law, Grant & Eisenhofer, and Baird Mandalas Brockstedt & Federico will hold a comprehensive litigation update-news conference on September 5th prior to the upcoming (September 10th) Maryland Supreme Court arguments on the constitutionality of the Child Victims Act of 2023 (CVA). Joined by several survivors-plaintiffs, advocates and the team will review the history of the legislation, and litigation (in state and federal courts), and the devastating impacts on generations of childhood sexual abuse survivors. They will also present the inaugural screening of “Survivors Stories: At the Crossroads of Justice,” a video featuring several leaders in the fight for CVA passage and survivors’ rights. To the survivors – many now elderly, unable to come forward for decades after their horrific abuse – the CVA is a beacon of hope that represents possibly their last chance for justice after a lifetime of dislocation and suffering. The Court’s ruling is expected to have profound ramifications in Maryland as well as nationally. The case Valerie Bunker v. The Key School, et al. is one of three lead cases before the Court; the argument follows a federal court’s request that the state Supreme Court decide the pivotal question of constitutionality.

When & Where

Program - Participants (partial list)

• “Survivors Stories: At the Crossroads of Justice”, first showing, featuring survivors and advocates.
• Survivors-Plaintiffs, including those that were among the first to file claims against Maryland defendants under the CVA.
• Attorneys-Advocates: Including counsel for named plaintiffs and attorneys from civil-children’s rights organizations among those filing Amicus briefs urging retention, as enacted, of the CVA.
  • Robert K. Jenner, Jenner Law
  • Steven J. Kelly, Grant & Eisenhofer
  • Phil Federico, Baird Mandalas Brockstedt & Federico
• Survivor-Advocate David Lorenz, SNAP, Maryland
• Advocate Gemma Hoskins (‘The Keepers’)

Contacts