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This Spring, Morse Voted to Deny Justice to Survivors and Morse “Refused to Meet” With Survivors Who He Called “These People”
State Senate President Chuck Morse couldn't be bothered to show up to the Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee meeting yesterday to vote on whether or not the committee would accept the Attorney General’s proposal regarding compensation for survivors of abuse at the Sununu Youth Detention Center. The committee passed the proposal on a 7-3 vote, with all of the Democartic members siding with the survivors and voting against the proposal because it “discriminates against male survivors of abuse, awards less money to victims who were raped repeatedly over a shorter time span than for victims whose sexual abuse was spread over a 12-month period, and still contemplates an average payout far below the statutory cap.” In May, Morse denied justice to survivors by voting to pass HB 1677 which did not ensure that all survivors receive compensation from the state for the abuse that took place over five decades. The bill had a narrow definition of abuse that excluded many of the horrific examples of sexual abuse that took place. Lawyers for the survivors had said that the bill was “a political move to fool the public into thinking the current political leadership actually cares about the children the State abused.” Child abuse prevention advocates added that the state was “devaluing [survivors] claims through the statute of limitations and by pretending emotional harm doesn’t count.” Over the spring, Morse also “refused to meet with a single victim” and insultingly referred to them as “these people.”