When legislatures open civil revival windows, survivors use them — and institutions resolve. This study compiles every currently open window, the major recently closed ones, and what each measurably produced, from verified public records.
What closed windows produced
California’s AB 218 window (2020–2022) is the clearest natural experiment: claims filed in that window led to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreeing to an $880 million settlement covering 1,353 claimants (announced October 16, 2024, per the settlement agreement) and to Los Angeles County’s resolution of more than 11,000 juvenile-facility claims for $4 billion (approved April 2025) plus $828 million for late claims (October 2025) — together the largest public-entity abuse resolution in U.S. history, per county approvals.
New York’s Child Victims Act window (2019–2021) saw roughly 11,000 claims and triggered a wave of diocesan bankruptcies; New York City reopened an institutional path in March 2026 through the Gender-Motivated Violence Act amendment (Intro 1297-A) after courts dismissed 450+ juvenile-detention suits under the prior law.
What is open right now
Maryland, Maine, Vermont, and Nevada have permanent revival paths; Louisiana’s window runs to June 14, 2027; New York City’s GMVA window opened March 2026. Rhode Island’s two-year institutional window — SB 2616, passed the Senate 37–0 and signed in June 2026 — opens July 1, 2026 and closes June 30, 2028, reaching back up to 35 years.
The Utah exception
Utah is the counter-case: Mitchell v. Roberts (2020 UT 34) held lapsed claims cannot constitutionally be revived, so no window is possible there. Yet even in Utah, statutory deadlines limit lawsuits — not direct resolution — and Utah eliminated its SOL against perpetrators for abuse occurring on or after January 1, 2024 (Utah Code § 78B-2-308).
Method note: this table includes only enacted legislation and publicly documented outcomes; confidential settlement terms are excluded, and conflicting reports (such as the NYC window’s end date) are flagged rather than resolved by guesswork.
The dataset
The Data
| Jurisdiction | Mechanism | Status / Dates | Retroactive Reach | Authority | Documented Outcomes / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rhode Island | Institutional revival window | July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2028 | Up to 35 years back | SB 2616 (June 2026), Senate 37–0 | Opens in weeks — newest window in the country |
Louisiana | Revival window (any defendant) | Open – June 14, 2027 | Lookback per 2021–2024 legislation | La. legislation; Alexandria Ch. 11 (Oct 31, 2025) followed 85 claims | Diocese bankruptcy claim bars run separately |
Maryland | Permanent revival | Open (no end date) | Unlimited | Child Victims Act (2023) | 3,500+ cases filed; damages capped Apr 2025 ($400K public / $700K private) for filings after May 31, 2025 |
Maine | Permanent revival | Open (no end date) | Unlimited | 2021 Act | — |
Vermont | Permanent revival | Open (no end date) | Unlimited | 2021 law (perpetrators + private orgs) | — |
Nevada | Permanent revival (perpetrators); institutions to age 38 | Open | Per 2021 reform | Nev. 2021 legislation | Feb 2026 institutional filing illustrates the lane |
New York City | GMVA institutional window | March 2026 – 2027 (reports conflict on end date) | Abuse on/before Jan 9, 2022 | Intro 1297-A (Jan 29, 2026, veto override) | Followed dismissal of 450+ juvenile-detention suits |
California (closed) | AB 218 window | Closed Dec 31, 2022 | 3-year window | AB 218 (2019) | Produced LA Archdiocese $880M (Oct 2024) and LA County $4B+$828M (2025) resolutions |
New York (closed) | Child Victims Act window | Closed Aug 14, 2021 | 2-year window | CVA (2019) | ~11,000 claims filed during window, per court reporting |
Utah | No revival possible | — | — | Mitchell v. Roberts (2020 UT 34) | Vested-rights bar; no SOL vs perpetrators for post-2024 abuse (§78B-2-308) |
Lookback Windows Work: What Revival Legislation Has Actually Produced
Methodology
How We Gathered This Data
Sources & attribution
Data Sources
- Enacted state legislation: RI SB 2616 (2026); Louisiana revival acts; Maryland Child Victims Act (2023, amended 2025); NYC Intro 1297-A (2026)
- Mitchell v. Roberts, 2020 UT 34, 469 P.3d 901 (Utah)
- Archdiocese of Los Angeles settlement announcement (Oct. 16, 2024)
- Los Angeles County Board approvals (April 2025; October 2025)
- CHILD USA Statute of Limitations Reform Tracker
- Court docket reporting on NY CVA filings and NYC GMVA litigation