Colorado Senate rejects childhood sex abuse amendment — again. Advocates hope to put it on ballot anyway.

Colorado Senate Republicans have again stopped a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at eventually opening the door to civil claims brought by victims of decades-old childhood abuse.

Every member of the GOP on Thursday voted against Senate Concurrent Resolution 2. If passed, it would have put a constitutional amendment to voters asking them to allow future lawmakers to pass laws permitting victims of childhood sexual abuse to bring forward civil claims against their past abusers and any enabling institutions.

Its placement on the ballot required two-thirds support from both the Senate and the House. In the Senate, every Democrat plus one Republican would be necessary to meet that 24-vote threshold. It failed Thursday along party lines, 23-12.

This is the second year Republicans have united to stop the amendment from proceeding.

The proposal would not have set specific parameters for how such civil cases could proceed but was “simply permission to go to the people and ask them if we can have this debate,” Sen. Dafna Michaelson Jenet, a Commerce City Democrat sponsoring the resolution, said. She spoke of her abuse as a girl in Ohio.

Sen. Jessie Danielson, a Wheat Ridge Democrat who sponsored this year’s resolution and the one last year, noted that the partisan split in the chamber had not changed from last year, but she hoped some new members might vote differently.

She read testimony from several survivors of childhood sexual abuse — who were victimized by teachers and religious figures trusted with their safeguarding — about their ongoing trauma and what the chance for legal recourse could mean for their healing.

“If we do not pass this amendment, it is impossible to hold these institutions and these vicious predators accountable,” Danielson said. 

Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen, a Monument Republican, was the only member of his caucus to speak against the measure from the Senate floor. He said the proposal would not tie perpetrators to their crimes, but it would have wide ramifications for due process. He echoed arguments from last year that warned the proposal would harm institutions today for crimes and cover-ups from decades ago for abuse that’s now outside the statute of limitations.

“It upends numerous constitutional and legally settled rights, including principles of legal certainty, the principle of finality of litigation and other elements of due process,” Lundeen said. “As a matter for my heart, this is a very difficult vote. As a matter of principle, and the rule of law, this vote is clear.”

The proposed amendment arose from a Colorado Supreme Court decision in June 2023 that overturned a 2021 law creating a three-year window for people to sue over decades-old childhood sexual abuse. The law had led to a surge of lawsuits over alleged abuse from decades prior.

The court ruled that the law violated a state constitutional provision against retrospective legislation. 

Danielson told the Senate that the survivor community still planned to put the matter before voters. Advocates had hoped to avoid signature gathering and “going door to door, selling their trauma” by going through a General Assembly referral instead. She said polling showed widespread support for the proposal, topping 80% — even in the state’s reddest districts.

After the vote, Lundeen turned to his caucus and thanked Republican members for “taking a hard, correct vote.”

Stay up-to-date with Colorado Politics by signing up for our weekly newsletter, The Spot.