Op-eds and Commentaries

RI child sex abuse bill stalled by conflict of interest | Opinion

By Kathryn Robb, Esq.

Most legislative votes pass without lasting notice or consequence. A few do not. The choice now facing Rhode Island senators belongs to the second category – and at its heart, it asks a single, simple question: Will you allow the continued cover-up of child sexual abuse, or will you stand for transparency and accountability?

Rhode Island lawmakers face a defining vote on justice for survivors of child sexual abuse

By Kathryn Robb, Esq.

Years from now, no one will remember the talking points or the lobbying campaigns. They will remember whether Rhode Island lawmakers stood with survivors and children over institutions. And they will ask a simple question:
When given the chance to open the doors of justice for victims of child sexual abuse, what did you do?

Punishing Protection: Why One Attorney Did What the Law Should Encourage

By Kathryn Robb, Esq.

In a bankruptcy courtroom in New Orleans, a troubling message has been sent — not just to one attorney, but to every lawyer, survivor, parent, and advocate working to protect children.

Speak out about abuse, and you may be punished for it.

Due Process vs. Due Care

By Kathryn Robb, Esq.

Due process is essential to justice, but without due care and common sense reform it can become a legal system that protects order more faithfully than it protects people. When the imbalance takes hold the weight lands on our children.

For survivors of child sexual abuse, seeking justice starts with courage. It takes bravery to break the silence, speak about what happened, and trust that telling the truth will lead to accountability and protect others. The accountability failures in Epstein files reveal how in the face of a federal law evidence can be slowed by secrecy, influence, power, and institutional self-protection. Too often, the courage of survivors meets a harsh reality many people do not see: the civil justice process itself can cause deep and lasting harm.

When Process Replaces Protection

By Kathryn Robb, Esq.

The double-edged sword of redaction: privacy without protection, disclosure without accountability. 

It is commonly assumed that, during moments of moral crisis, adherence to proper procedures under principled leadership will ensure just outcomes. Deliberate action, thorough documentation review, judicious redaction, and restrained communication are expected to yield justice. Confidence in procedural integrity is a hallmark of American civic culture and law, reflecting enduring commitments to fairness, equitable order, and the rule of law. These basic principles have historically benefited the nation, parties on either side of the adversarial “v.”

Then there are the Epstein victims.

What Does Christmas Ask of Americans? On character, cruelty, and the messages we pass to our children

By Kathryn Robb, Esq.

Words matter not only because they offend, but because they form and teach character. What is repeated becomes acceptable. What is acceptable becomes normalized. Yet, Christmas points us in another direction — toward humility, toward compassion, toward restraint, toward the belief that dignity is not something to be earned or defended, but something to be honored.

Dear King Charles, Would You Talk to Our Leaders?

By Kathryn Robb, Esq.

The appearance of cover-up is blindingly evident; it is all, as the British say, a bit dodgy. After all she must be giving something to get something. As Trump weighs a possible commutation for Ghislaine Maxwell, newly released House Oversight emails reveal Epstein’s chilling remark about “the dog that hasn’t barked”—suggesting that Trump himself, long within Epstein’s circle, remains the one name conspicuously absent.

The Four Shields that Endanger Children

By Kathryn Robb, Esq.

And yet, instead of standing with survivors, our laws have constructed barriers that protect the very institutions that failed children. Four barriers—statutes of limitations, charitable immunity, non-disclosure agreements, and the laws of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code—have become shields wielded by powerful institutions to silence survivors, conceal dangerous predators, and protect reputations and assets. These laws were not designed with child sexual abuse in mind. But in practice, they function as a fortress of secrecy, cover up and impunity.

Epstein, the Headlines, and the Children We Ignore

By Kathryn Robb, Esq.

As the latest wave of headlines about the Jeffrey Epstein list surges through the news cycle, and the public feasts on their fascination with the juicy story of the powerful and rich hobnobbing with a mega rich sex offender, and the potential coverup by the many implicated, one might hope that we are focusing on the victims of these crimes. But we are not.