Epner supports a proposed change to New York’s law to widen the scope of when someone is too intoxicated to consent. The New York Senate has passed a bill multiple times, but the state Assembly failed to bring it up for a vote.
That bill states that people cannot give consent if they are under the influence of substances that have rendered them “temporarily incapable of appraising or controlling” their conduct, and “such conduct was known or reasonably should have been known” to the other person.
Pennsylvania has also made efforts to try and change the law to make it easier for victims who were intoxicated to prove they were assaulted.
“If somebody’s too drunk to drive, they’re too drunk to – fill in your verb of choice,” Epner said.
Representative Lea Webb, whose district includes Cornell University, told the BBC News Channel she and her fellow lawmakers were working to push through legislation on the issue, which has gone through several amendments.
New York’s current laws, she said, “puts the onus of proof on the victim”.
Schorr and criminal defence attorneys, meanwhile, criticised the proposed changes to New York’s sexual assault laws.
New York’s State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers said in a statement to the BBC New York’s current laws were sufficient, and that “people have been convicted of rape in cases involving voluntarily intoxicated victims”.
The group said using language that a victim was “incapable of appraising or controlling their conduct” was “simply too vague to be fairly enforced”, adding that the legislation does not give clear details on what constitutes someone being too intoxicated to engage in sexual conduct.
Schorr said it was not easy to answer this question of what exact point someone is too intoxicated to consent.
He added: “How should the law address that? It is very challenging to find a clear standard that will be evenly applied.”
“It’s a conversation we should have as a society, as a state”.
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