Justice for Jessica Simpkins
Tax deductible
In 2008, 15-year-old Jessica Simpkins was twice raped by her pastor at Sunbury Grace Brethren Church in Ohio. Unbeknownst to Simpkins, the pastor had twice engaged in sexually predatory conduct with two other teenage girls at the pastor’s former church, Delaware Grace Brethren Church. Despite knowledge of those incidents, dating back to the early 1990s, Delaware Grace played a key role in the pastor becoming the head pastor at Sunbury Grace.
The pastor who assaulted Jessica eventually plead guilty to two counts of sexual battery (vaginal and oral) and was released after serving 8 years in prison. Realizing that Delaware Grace had supported her pastor despite his history of sexually predatory conduct towards teenage girls, Jessica filed a civil suit against Delaware Grace Brethren for failing to act on that knowledge.
A jury awarded Jessica more than $3.6 million, $3.5 million of which was intended to compensate her for depression, PTSD, alcohol abuse and other “pain and suffering” that she experienced as a result of the rapes. Under an Ohio law passed in 2005, however, “pain and suffering” is generally limited to $250,000 – a small fraction of the total the jury said she was entitled to.
Ohio is one of a small number of states, including Alaska, Colorado, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, and Tennessee that impose caps in personal injury cases on “non-economic damages” also known as “pain and suffering.” However, Ohio’s law is particularly extreme because it provides “tort reform” for the country’s most vile criminals, including those who rape children. Notwithstanding the publicity surrounding Jessica’s case, however, bills introduced in the Ohio legislature to change the law have thus far gone nowhere.
Ohio’s $250,000 limit on damages does not apply to “catastrophic physical injuries” such as substantial physical scarring, but the limit does apply to child rape, and, in Simpkins’ case, the lower courts applied one limit even though there were two rapes.
In 2016, Simpkins challenged Ohio’s law. In an Ohio Supreme Court brief, her attorney argued that the caps are “arbitrary and unreasonable, and thus a denial of due process,” and that “the effect of the statute is to clearly alter the jury’s finding that she suffered a catastrophic injury. … By arbitrarily overruling that finding, [the cap] violates Jessica Simpkins’ right to a trial by jury.”
In December 2016, Ohio’s Supreme Court upheld the cap as constitutional (Justice French, majority opinion) despite fervent dissent, and also applied only one limit, even though there were two rapes. The court’s decision sent a message that “If you rape a child, you get the benefit of tort reform,” Simpkins’ lawyer, John Fitch, recently told Slate. Tort reform, he added, “makes it financially impractical for children like this to hold those responsible accountable in the legal system.”
“Just because I didn’t lose a limb and because I can carry on a life, they’re saying it basically doesn’t affect me,” Simpkins told Slate, adding that “Every week, two to three times a week, a tape of the whole day will play in my head.” When this happens, she says, “I’ll have to freeze.”
Public Justice is proud to award our 2017 Illuminating Injustice Award, designed to help those who have suffered a significant injury, but received only a partial recovery, to Jessica Simpkins. We salute Jessica’s ongoing efforts to educate the public about the harm inflicted by damages caps, and her tireless advocacy to challenge and expose such laws on behalf of victims and survivors across the country.
Public Justice will present Jessica with a check for $25,000 at our Annual Gala on Monday, July 24th in Boston. In addition to these funds, we will also donate every dollar raised here on GoFundMe to Jessica as well. Those funds will be in addition to the organization's $25,000 check.
Join us in helping Jessica receive the justice she deserves.
The pastor who assaulted Jessica eventually plead guilty to two counts of sexual battery (vaginal and oral) and was released after serving 8 years in prison. Realizing that Delaware Grace had supported her pastor despite his history of sexually predatory conduct towards teenage girls, Jessica filed a civil suit against Delaware Grace Brethren for failing to act on that knowledge.
A jury awarded Jessica more than $3.6 million, $3.5 million of which was intended to compensate her for depression, PTSD, alcohol abuse and other “pain and suffering” that she experienced as a result of the rapes. Under an Ohio law passed in 2005, however, “pain and suffering” is generally limited to $250,000 – a small fraction of the total the jury said she was entitled to.
Ohio is one of a small number of states, including Alaska, Colorado, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, and Tennessee that impose caps in personal injury cases on “non-economic damages” also known as “pain and suffering.” However, Ohio’s law is particularly extreme because it provides “tort reform” for the country’s most vile criminals, including those who rape children. Notwithstanding the publicity surrounding Jessica’s case, however, bills introduced in the Ohio legislature to change the law have thus far gone nowhere.
Ohio’s $250,000 limit on damages does not apply to “catastrophic physical injuries” such as substantial physical scarring, but the limit does apply to child rape, and, in Simpkins’ case, the lower courts applied one limit even though there were two rapes.
In 2016, Simpkins challenged Ohio’s law. In an Ohio Supreme Court brief, her attorney argued that the caps are “arbitrary and unreasonable, and thus a denial of due process,” and that “the effect of the statute is to clearly alter the jury’s finding that she suffered a catastrophic injury. … By arbitrarily overruling that finding, [the cap] violates Jessica Simpkins’ right to a trial by jury.”
In December 2016, Ohio’s Supreme Court upheld the cap as constitutional (Justice French, majority opinion) despite fervent dissent, and also applied only one limit, even though there were two rapes. The court’s decision sent a message that “If you rape a child, you get the benefit of tort reform,” Simpkins’ lawyer, John Fitch, recently told Slate. Tort reform, he added, “makes it financially impractical for children like this to hold those responsible accountable in the legal system.”
“Just because I didn’t lose a limb and because I can carry on a life, they’re saying it basically doesn’t affect me,” Simpkins told Slate, adding that “Every week, two to three times a week, a tape of the whole day will play in my head.” When this happens, she says, “I’ll have to freeze.”
Public Justice is proud to award our 2017 Illuminating Injustice Award, designed to help those who have suffered a significant injury, but received only a partial recovery, to Jessica Simpkins. We salute Jessica’s ongoing efforts to educate the public about the harm inflicted by damages caps, and her tireless advocacy to challenge and expose such laws on behalf of victims and survivors across the country.
Public Justice will present Jessica with a check for $25,000 at our Annual Gala on Monday, July 24th in Boston. In addition to these funds, we will also donate every dollar raised here on GoFundMe to Jessica as well. Those funds will be in addition to the organization's $25,000 check.
Join us in helping Jessica receive the justice she deserves.
Organizer
Steve Ralls
Organizer
Washington D.C., DC
Public Justice Foundation
Registered nonprofit
Donations are typically 100% tax deductible in the US.
