After years of advocacy, state Assembly bill A101A, which prohibits the use of intoxication of the victim as a defense in sex crimes, has yet to come to the Assembly floor for a vote despite having broad member support and passing the state Senate multiple times.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe if the bill came to the floor, it would pass, but can I guarantee that? No,\u201d said Democratic Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz.<\/p>\n
Dinowitz, the Assembly sponsor, says once the 2027 legislative session begins, he plans on reintroducing the proposal which he says he initially introduced six years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would hope that more people decide that they\u2019re more concerned about the victims of sexual assault then they are about the people who commit the assaults,\u201d said Dinowitz. \u201cFrankly, some people don\u2019t want to create a situation where more people would go to jail because under this bill, more people probably would go to jail.\u201d<\/p>\n
Minister Peace, the executive director of Community for a Cause, says he\u2019s been working on getting this measure passed since 2019. He says the proposal doesn\u2019t guarantee conviction. He says what it does do is change New York law so a charge can be brought up.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe burden of proof stays the same,\u201d said Peace. \u201cWhat changes is that we agree that incapacitated isn\u2019t capacitated. We no longer say incapacitated only matters if your drink was spiked. What it does guarantee is that if it happens to anyone, they can at least see their perpetrator go to court. The evidence still has to be reviewed. The burden of proof is still on the prosecutor. The jury still has to make up their mind unanimously.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jane Manning is a former state sex crimes prosecutor. Manning now works as the director of Women\u2019s Equal Justice, an organization that serves survivors of sexual assault.<\/p>\n
She addresses some of the concerns critics have about the proposal.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are people who are concerned that individuals may be prosecuted under this law for having drunk sex,\u201d said Manning. \u201cThat\u2019s really not what the bill targets. In fact, the bill is very, very specific. That the perpetrator has to know or the person in the perpetrator\u2019s situation has to be able to know that the victim is incapacitated.\u201d<\/p>\n