Cornell 7 case casts spotlight on NYs voluntary intoxication loophole which doesnt protect rape victims who drink, take drugs on their own

An antiquated New York law that shields rapists who target intoxicated victims is under renewed scrutiny in light of the “Cornell 7” case — but Assembly Democrats have long opposed a proposal to close the legal loophole, with one even referring to it as the “ruining drunk sex bill,” The Post has learned.The “voluntary intoxication loophole” refers to how current state law doesn’t cover rape victims who chose to drink or get high themselves, even if it means they were too incapacitated to consent later.“Getting drunk should not be an invitation to getting raped but in the current law, it pretty much is,” state Assemblyman Jeffery Dinowitz — who has backed a bill that would change the law since 2019 — told The Post.“We originally refer to it as a loophole, in fact it is more than a loophole, that’s why we refer to it as the ”voluntary intoxication exclusion.’ Sexual assault victims who are voluntarily intoxicated, there’s virtually no chance that they are going to get justice,” he said.Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten cited current law when defending why he didn’t “independently investigate” a Cornell University’s student’s 2024 report to campus police that she had been gang raped at a fraternity house.But the DA admitted that Dinowitz’s proposed “Bill A101” would have required his office to further investigate the report from the now-former student, identified only as Jane Doe — who recently filed a lawsuit against the Ivy League school, prompting Van Houten to reopen a probe.“Yes, we would have, under the law, had to investigate further and determine what other individuals knew or should have known about her mental state,” Van Houten told The Post.“Because if she doesn’t say ‘no’ during the events or if she is not physically helpless or physically unconscious, then the law in New York as it is written now indicates that she consented.”The proposed bill aims to protect a victim wh...