| From the HSLDA E-lert Service: |
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| Date: From: Subject: | 9/29/2003 5:12:57 PM Home School Legal Defense Association Ohio--Forcing Pastors to Report Suspected Child Abuse |
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====================================================================== From the HSLDA E-lert Service... ====================================================================== {{JoinAd}} September 29, 2003 Dear HSLDA Members and Friends: Ohio's social workers are supporting new laws to increase the number of allegations of child abuse and neglect. Senate Bill 100 has already passed the Ohio Senate, and has now been assigned to the House Committee on Criminal Justice. This bill would force pastors and priests to report all cases of suspected child abuse, except for actual confessions made to them by their parishioners. Pastors and priests who refuse to report their suspicions would be subject to criminal and civil penalties. Senator Brady, the assistant minority leader of the senate, was the only person to vote against this bill. He had strong objections to making pastors "agents of the state." We are urging you to contact the members of the House Committee on Criminal Justice to urge them to vote "No" on SB 100. I have called the office of Representative of Bob Latta, the chairman of the Criminal Justice Committee and have asked his staff for the most effective way to communicate our concerns at this time. His office has invited us to send emails to him at district06@ohr.state.oh.us. Email is the least effective way to change a legislators mind, but can be a very important way letting a potentially supportive legislator know the strength of our opposition. Action Requested: Please email Representative Bob Latta at district06@ohr.state.oh.us and the other members of the Criminal Justice Committee to indicate your opposition to SB 100. The subject line of the email should be "SB 100," and it should be addressed to the specific representative you are contacting. Make sure your email is short, and extremely courteous. You may want to mention one or both of the following "talking points" in your message. 1. Pastors are part of the solution to child abuse, not part of the problem. Let pastors do their job! 2. This bill would make priests and pastors "agents of the state." Don't turn clergy into spies! Criminal Justice Committee members District74@ohr.state.oh.us - Rep. Stephen Buehrer (R) District62@ohr.state.oh.us - Rep. Jamie Callender (R) District90@ohr.state.oh.us - Rep. Thomas (Thom) Collier (R) District71@ohr.state.oh.us - Rep. David Evans (R) District77@ohr.state.oh.us - Rep. Keith Faber (R) District76@ohr.state.oh.us - Rep. Mike Gilb (R) District98@ohr.state.oh.us - Rep. Timothy Grendell (R) District30@ohr.state.oh.us - Rep. William (Bill) Seitz (R) District04@ohr.state.oh.us - Rep. John Willamowski (R) (Vice Chair) District08@ohr.state.oh.us - Rep. Lance Mason (D) (Ranking Minority member) District15@ohr.state.oh.us - Rep. Dean DePiero (D) District48@ohr.state.oh.us - Rep. Edna Brown (D) District07@ohr.state.oh.us - Rep. Edward Jerse (D) District11@ohr.state.oh.us - Rep. Annie Key (D) District10@ohr.state.oh.us - Rep. Shirley Smith (D) District33@ohr.state.oh.us - Rep. Tyrone Yates (D) Background: Ever since the scale of the abuses in the Catholic Church became public, state legislatures have been "cracking down" on clergy. HSLDA members have managed to defeat or improve legislation in a number of states. Now it is Ohio's turn. Senator Spada, the chief sponsor of this bill, is a well-respected Republican. His initial bill would have made all pastors report any suspicions of abuse or neglect. The Ohio Council of Churches, which includes the Roman Catholic Church, the United Methodist Church, the United Presbyterian Church, the Episcopalian Church, and several other similar denominations, was able to persuade Senator Spada to make some changes to his bill. Senator Spada's staff believes that the Ohio Council of Churches now "supports" this legislation. Our sources within the Ohio Council of Churches have not expressed any "support" for the bill, but have withdrawn their open objection to it in its current form. That means this bill, if it is to be successfully opposed, must be opposed via "grass roots" activity. Pastors, if they are performing their duties correctly, are "tuned in" to a great deal of information of which the police are unaware. Pastors are God's agents, sent into a world of sin to redeem lost souls. They routinely hear about horrifying situations, yet go back to work, day after day, because the Gospel is the solution to sin. SB 100 tries to "tap into" this "inside information" that pastors possess in order to protect additional children. Unfortunately, turning pastors into spies for the government will do far more harm than good. Under current law, pastors and priests are free to report child abuse or neglect if they choose to do so. This bill will have no effect on the pastor who believes that he can thus serve God and his fellow man by reporting his suspicions. The only direct affect that this bill will have is to apply criminal penalties to pastors who do not believe they can report a suspicion in good conscience. Since this bill sets up a conflict between a pastor's conscience and the criminal law, it is fraught with constitutional problems. The best way to avoid this constitutional train wreck is to contact Representative Latta's office and indicate your opposition to SB 100. Please forward this message to other concerned Ohio citizens. While this bill affects homeschoolers, it is not our problem alone. Please be prepared for additional emails and calls to action. Sincerely, Scott Somerville HSLDA Staff Attorney ====================================================================== The HSLDA E-lert Service is a service of: Home School Legal Defense Association P.O. 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Thank you for your cooperation. ====================================================================== | |
