New York Governor Kathy Hochul vowed to work with legislators Friday to close the state's so-called "voluntary intoxication loophole" amid an investigation into an alleged gang rape at Cornell University in 2024. Hochul, who appointed state Attorney General Letitia James as a special prosecutor to oversee an investigation into the woman's allegations, said the case had exposed a "gap in state law" that must be rectified. "If someone is too intoxicated to consent, it should not matter whether they chose to use drugs or alcohol," Hochul told reporters Friday during a news conference alongside James.
"Voluntarily intoxication is not a license for sexual assault or gang rape—period. I support closing this loophole, and will work with the New York state Legislature to accomplish this." Hochul appointed James after "new information" surfaced that raised questions about how the case was handled in 2024, insisting she had lost faith in the ability of Tompkins County Attorney Matthew Van Houten to oversee a reopened investigation. Van Houten had cited the state law as he defended his initial decision not to file criminal charges against any of the seven men who were later sued by the alleged victim.
"At the heart of all this is one young woman and what she deserved from the very beginning," Hochul said Friday. "Every parent who sends their child off to college expects them to be safe. And if something terrible happens, the student deserves to know that the people they turn to will listen to them, protect them and fight for them.
That is the bare minimum. This brave young woman deserved that in 2024 and she deserves it now." Hochul said she intended to do "everything possible" to close the loophole, which makes it more difficult to prosecute people who have victimized others who are too intoxicated to consent to sexual activity. "This is critically important to me," Hochul said, adding she would encourage legislators to pass a bill to close the voluntary intoxication exemption as soon as January.
While a proposal to close the loophole has previously been approved by the state Senate at least four times since 2019, the measure never reached the Assembly for a vote, Gothamist reported Friday. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg applauded Hochul's vow to take action amid the ongoing criminal investigation into the alleged 2024 rape at the Ivy League institution. "Driven by what we see in our own practice, we have long called for New York State to eliminate the voluntary intoxication loophole," Bragg said Friday in a post on X.
"Drugging someone to rape them is clearly wrong. So is raping someone who became intoxicated by voluntarily drinking or taking drugs. In either case, the person is incapable of meaningful consent, and our laws should clearly recognize both as rape." New York is one of 19 states with rape or sexual assault laws that deem intoxicated victims to be mentally incapacitated only if they become drunk or were drugged without their knowledge or consent, the (AP) reported on Tuesday.
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