Governor Brown Signs New Legislation on Sexual Assault Cases

By Samantha Alsina on October 5, 2016

Just last week, California Governor Brown has signed new legislation that, once in effect, will uplift the statute of limitations for certain sex crimes and impose mandatory sentencing for those convicted of sexual assault of unconscious victims. Both will go into effect in January 2017.

Under current California law, the crime of “rape” is defined as bodily penetration with the use of physical force and judges are allowed to give lesser time in cases of rape lacking physical force.

In the case of Brock Turner, a former Stanford student who raped an unconscious woman, this is exactly what happened. He was allowed a lesser sentence which ultimately amounted to three month in jail.

The two bills, AB701 and AB2888, will impose new sentencing measures and prohibits judges from giving probation to those convicted of assault on unconscious victims. The new bills attempt to ensure that those who commit rape crimes will serve jail time.

But what others laud as Brown’s initiative to close legal loopholes in sexual assault cases, others respond with sounding criticism. Critics and opponents alike claim that those who lack proper legal defense will be disproportionately impacted by mandatory sentencing in a system where prison overcrowding and mass incarceration persists.

Although the issues of legal defense and the execution of these bills in practice is a real concern, statistics are all too telling of the difficult process of prosecuting sexual assault cases. According to RAINN, out of a thousand perpetrators, only seven will get a felony conviction whereas only six will actually serve jail time.

While prison overcrowding and mass incarceration are very problems, sexual assault can not to be used as leverage to mitigate those issues. Crimes are crimes and those that commit them should do the appropriate sentence.

Similarly, the Senate Bill 813, which uplifts the statute of limitations in cases of rape, sodomy, and other sex crimes, faced the same criticism. In CA, where the current statute of limitations is ten years unless new DNA evidence becomes available has advocates cheering.

Supporters of the bill praised it as a new win for victims of assault who argue that the new bill encourages survivors to come forward and report their sexual assault in hopes of prosecution or closure. In the light of the controversial cases of Brock Turner and Bill Cosby, the new legislation does give us hope that justice will get served when it is due even when someone is incapable of giving consent or if they wait for more than a decade to report their assault.

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