GOSHEN – The alleged gang rape of a female Cornell University student has brought the issue of sexual assault to the top of mind of the American conscience.
New York State has a loophole in its rape laws – the voluntary intoxication loophole – which says if a person is incapacitated due to voluntary intoxication, then sexual contact is not considered rape, whereas, if someone slips a drug in a person’s drink to the point of intoxication, that is not considered assault.
Orange County Legislator Janet Sutherland has proposed, and won the support of an oversight committee, to adopt memorializing legislation urging Albany to close that loophole.
“Attention was drawn to this because of what happened in Cornell, but we obviously all know that it didn’t just happen at Cornell; it happens every day across the United States,” she said. “I read an article about the ‘bro code’ and it’s really amazing to see the mentality of young men. Whether you are raping a woman or you are raping a male, this happens to everybody.”
Sutherland said now is the time to act on this and she would hope her memorializing legislation will put pressure on Albany to close the loophole.
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