Each week, we talk with our colleagues at The Colorado Sun about the stories they’re following. This time, Health and Environment Reporter Michael Booth joined us to discuss a possible upcoming constitutional amendment related to sexual abuse cases and an update on how the 988 crisis hotline is faring in Colorado.
The Sun reported on a proposed amendment to the state constitution concerning child sexual abuse cases. It aims to give people who were abused as children another chance to seek a day in court, even if the statute of limitations has expired.
“The customary law in Colorado is that you have a six-year limit after a sexual assault or an alleged sexual assault to sue the people who you believe did this to you,” Booth told KUNC.
Victims’ advocates say that's not long enough. In 2021, the legislature passed a law that would have opened a new three-year window for suing people over alleged sexual assault. It also would have allowed plaintiffs to pursue litigation for cases going back to the 1960s. But the state Supreme Court rejected it as unconstitutional.
Supporters of the overturned law now want to take the issue directly to voters for an amendment to the state Constitution. The amendment would codify the window for abuse lawsuits proposed in the 2021 bill.
The Sun also had an update on the 988 crisis hotline. Booth said the service has come with some issues.
“First of all, Colorado already has its own crisis hotline - a free number that people can call and get connected to crisis services if they need to. And so there's still some confusion over which one people should use,” Booth said. “Another thing that happens is the 988 national line is easy to remember, but it's also connected to the home area code on people's phones.”
Between military service members, job seekers and people who move to the Centennial State for other lifestyle reasons, Colorado has a lot of transplants.
“You may think you're calling a local service or call service, but because of the area code that’s on your cell phone, it is routing you back to your home state of California, to Pennsylvania, to New York. And you do get the call answered. But it may lead to some confusion about where you might actually get services and who's answering the call.”
The 988 service is looking to hire 260 more people in Colorado by April to help answer calls. The National Hotline referred 58,000 calls to Colorado in the last year.
The Colorado crisis hotline number is 1-844-493-8255.
