Maryland’s high court this week upheld a sweeping state law that lifts the deadline for survivors of childhood sexual abuse to sue the institutions that enabled their harm.

With a 4-3 vote, the justices deemed constitutional the Child Victims Act, clearing one last obstacle for adult survivors to take their claims to the courts. The ruling has implications for churches, schools and government agencies. Survivors and plaintiffs’ attorneys were celebrating the decision on Tuesday. Here’s what you need to know.

Decision examined a word: ‘repose’

Maryland law has long had a statute of limitations that set a deadline for adults to sue institutions over the abuse they suffered as children. Lawmakers extended that deadline in 2017 and added seemingly innocuous language to the law: “statute of repose.” This was an obscure legal principle that had otherwise been limited to product liability and construction law. Whereas a statute of limitation sets a deadline for legal action to happen, a statue of repose grants irrevocable immunity after a deadline.

Del. C.T. Wilson, a Charles County Democrat and the 2017 bill sponsor, has repeatedly said church allies and lobbyists slipped the protection into state law.

With the Child Victims Act of 2023, also sponsored by Wilson, state lawmakers sought to remove the deadlines entirely — except they ran into this little-known statute of repose. The Supreme Court was left to untangle the mess. The justices determined the 2017 law functioned as a statute of limitations, not repose, and that lawmakers had not to intended to grant immunity. In a dissenting opinion, the justices pointed to the plain language of the 2017 law to argue the Legislature had in fact established a statute of repose.

Implications for the Catholic Church in Baltimore

The Archdiocese of Baltimore filed for bankruptcy on the eve of the Child Victims Act, freezing any sex abuse lawsuits in state courts. All claims had to be filed in the federal bankruptcy case, and at least 700 people have brought their claims to it. The Supreme Court’s ruling does not directly affect those claims.

Maryland government’s liability exposure

The Child Victims Act doesn’t single out churches, but also opens up schools and governments to new lawsuits over old instances of alleged abuse. Some 3,500 people have sued the state for damages arising from child sexual abuse they said that they endured while in state care, mainly in the juvenile justice system.

The law allows for damages of up to $890,000 against state and local governments per occurrence of abuse, leading to the potential of big jury awards or settlements, particularly in cases where children suffered systematic abuse.

“This is potentially an enormous liability for the state,” David Romans, the top fiscal advisor at the nonpartisan Department of Legislative Services, told lawmakers last month.

Critics of the Child Victims Act had warned that the bill would push the state toward bankruptcy.

Plaintiffs’ attorney Rob Jenner called a news conference Tuesday to discuss the Supreme Court’s ruling and downplayed the financial hazard.

“The state can adjust,” he said. “This is a standard cry-wolf maneuver by insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies.”

Legal fights ahead

There remain uncertainties for survivors. For one, the courts have to define an “occurrence” of abuse, whether that means a single act of abuse, one pattern or one abuser. Attorneys are also preparing for a fight over the damage caps. If an occurrence of abuse happened in 1983, does the damage cap from 1983 apply? Or the damage cap of today? These questions are expected to be litigated in the months ahead.

David Lorenz, the director of the Maryland Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said Tuesday that he believes the court’s decision will also push the Archdiocese of Washington and Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware, to follow the Catholic Church in Baltimore and file for bankruptcy.

The Washington and Wilmington churches operate parishes in Maryland, and a bankruptcy filing would freeze any lawsuits against them in state courts. The Wilmington Diocese previously filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and negotiated a settlement of $77,425,000 to survivors of clergy sexual abuse, according to a spokesman. The diocese emerged from bankruptcy in 2011.

The Washington Archdiocese issued a statement in response to questions and said it was reviewing the Maryland decision.

“We remain committed to our longstanding efforts to bring healing to survivors through pastoral care and other forms of assistance. We are also committed to maintaining our robust safe environment protocols that have been in place for decades to ensure the protection of all those who are entrusted to our care,” the statement read.

Reporter Dylan Segelbaum contributed to this article.