A divided Maryland Supreme Court issued a historic ruling Monday that gave several plaintiff attorneys the green light to continue pursuing their claims of child sexual abuse against the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Washington and educational institutions.

The plaintiffs in three consolidated cases, initially filed in state and federal courts, claim they were sexually abused decades ago by church leaders in John Doe v. Roman Catholic Archbishop of Washington, as well as two school entities. In all three cases, the defendants challenged the constitutionality of the Maryland Child Victims Act of 2023, which opened the statutory window to allegations that would otherwise be time-barred.