The case drawing national anger at Cornell University has a familiar ring here. In Ithaca, a former Cornell sophomore identified as Jane Doe filed a civil lawsuit alleging she was gang-raped by 7 fraternity members in 2024. The suit led authorities to reopen a criminal investigation. Advocates say a New York law limiting prosecution when a victim voluntarily drank alcohol or took drugs has kept cases like hers out of court.
New York Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz is the lead sponsor of Bill 101, which would remove that limit. A similar bill was first introduced in 2019 and never got a floor vote in the Assembly. "There's such a low rate of people who actually report sexual assaults," Dinowitz said. "There's a whole group of people who don't even have a chance."
Minnesota had this same gap until 2021, and the University flagged this week's Star Tribune coverage of that history because of its UMN connection. The case that forced the change started in Dinkytown.
In May 2017, a woman was turned away from a Dinkytown bar because she was too intoxicated. Francios Khalil then brought her to his north Minneapolis home, and a jury convicted him of third-degree criminal sexual conduct. On March 24, 2021, the Minnesota Supreme Court reversed that conviction. The court held that under state law, a person who drank voluntarily was not "mentally incapacitated." Writing for the court, Justice Paul Thissen said a person under the influence of alcohol "is not mentally incapacitated unless the alcohol was administered to the person under its influence without that person's agreement."
Thissen also noted that legislatures are better placed than courts to sort out the competing interests, and the Legislature acted fast. A bipartisan bill, House File 707, was already in the works. Rep. Kelly Moller (DFL-Shoreview) was its chief author and Rep. Marion O'Neill (R-Maple Lake) was a co-author. It drew in UMN people: Abby Honold, a UMN alum and sexual assault advocate, pushed for the reform, and the University's Aurora Center for Advocacy and Education sat on the legislative working group that drafted it.
Moller said the bill meant "those who experience the unthinkable trauma of a sexual assault while voluntarily intoxicated have a pathway to receive justice." The bill also created a new crime of sexual extortion and added age-related protections for children.
The fix went into the public safety omnibus bill, which Gov. Tim Walz signed on June 30, 2021. It took effect September 15, 2021.
State law now defines "mentally incapacitated" in 2 ways. The old one, for substances given to someone without their agreement, is still there. The new one covers anyone "under the influence of any substance or substances to a degree that renders them incapable of consenting." How the person got that drunk or high no longer matters.
For students, the Aurora Center is still the campus's main place for confidential advocacy after a sexual assault.
