April 19, 2023 - Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil (D-Jackson) reports after a tough uphill battle, the Senate Public Safety Committee passed SB 268 to make rape of an unconscious person a violent felony.

Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil (D-Jackson) authored the bill to fix California’s rape laws, which deem rape as a “violent felony” only when committed against a person’s will by means of force, violence, duress, menace, fear, or the threat of violent retaliation. It does not address rape situations when the victim is unconscious or otherwise unable to give consent. SB 268 will make it a violent felony to intentionally drug someone into an unconscious state in order to rape them.

There was mounting concern that the bill would not pass due to adding another “strike” to the Three Strikes Law and prison overcrowding. With Proposition 57 in place, felons can be considered for early release if they are not serving time for a “violent felony.” As a result, a glaring inequity exists as rapists who premeditated and drugged their victims prior to assaulting them can get out early as opposed to a perpetrator who forcibly raped their victim. SB 268 fixes this major flaw.

“I applaud my colleagues on the committee for making the right decision and putting the needs of victims ahead of the criminals,” stated Alvarado-Gil. “We must protect the children, the women, the men, and the people with disabilities who continue to be victimized by all forms of rape, and passing this bill is the first step of that journey.”

May Rico, Executive Director of HAVEN (Healthy Alternatives to Violent Environments) added, “The passage of SB 268 sends a message to survivors of drug facilitated rape that their trauma is not somehow ‘less than’ a survivor who was awake and aware during their assault, and gives them the same legal remedies and protections other survivors of rape currently have.”

As a childhood victim of rape herself, Alvarado-Gil exclaimed, “I will continue to stand up for the rights of all sexual assault victims. This is a hill I am willing to die on.”

The bill now goes to the Senate Appropriations Committee before being voted on by the full Senate.

Senator Alvarado-Gil represents the 4th Senate District including the Counties of Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Inyo, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Mono, Nevada , Placer, Stanislaus, and Tuolumne. To learn more about Senator Alvarado-Gil please go to: https://sd04.senate.ca.gov/.
Source: Senator Alvarado-Gil