Resolution in Support of Closing the Voluntary Intoxication Loophole and Successor Legislation to A.101/S.10632 to Protect Intoxicated Victims of Sexual Assault
Whereas:
1. New York law should protect every person from sexual assault regardless of whether they voluntarily consumed alcohol, drugs, or another intoxicating substance, because choosing to become intoxicated is not consent to sexual activity;
2. New York law, Section 130.05, currently does not protect a person who voluntarily consumes alcohol, drugs, or other substances, but is too impaired to consent, even though they remain awake and able to talk;
3. This stands in contrast to other areas of New York criminal law: a person does not lose the protection of the law against theft or robbery because they voluntarily became intoxicated; the law should likewise protect bodily autonomy when a person is too impaired to consent;
4. A.101/S.10632 or successor legislation in the 2027 session would close this gap by providing that lack of consent may be established when a person is under the influence of a drug, intoxicant, or other substance to a degree that renders them temporarily incapable of appraising or controlling their conduct, when that condition was known or reasonably should have been known to a person in the accused’s situation;
5. The legislation applies to sexual misconduct, a class A misdemeanor, and three subdivisions of rape in the third degree, a class E felony, both of which carry sex offender registration; a conviction would require that the person’s incapacity was known, or reasonably should have been known, to a person in the accused’s situation;
6. The New York State Senate unanimously passed S.10632 on June 4, 2026 with a 60-0 vote (1 absent, 2 excused) after being introduced every session since 2019, and the legislation is now before the New York State Assembly Codes Committee. The bill currently counts 90 sponsors in the NYS Assembly, considerably more than the majority needed to pass the legislation;
7. Sexual assault involving alcohol or drugs is not limited to college campuses and affects people of all ages and circumstances, including assaults occurring in homes, workplaces, bars and other social settings, making protection for people who are too intoxicated to consent a statewide concern;
8. Sexual assault is significantly underreported: according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics only 24 percent of rape and sexual-assault victims reported to the police in 2024:
9. Alcohol is frequently involved in sexual assault both on and off college campuses: research examining both college and non-college populations finds that, “approximately half of all sexual assaults are associated with either the perpetrator’s alcohol consumption, the victim’s alcohol consumption, or both” while Cornell University’s 2026 Presidential Task Force on Campus Sexual Assault found that “alcohol was involved in the majority of sexual assault incidents; for women, the perpetrator drank alcohol in 66% of the cases; 75% for men. For both men and women, the victim drank alcohol in 60% of the cases.”; and,
10. A 2019 Association of American Universities survey of more than 181,000 students at 33 colleges and universities found that 25.9 percent of undergraduate women, 22.8 percent of undergraduate transgender, genderqueer and nonbinary students, and 6.8 percent of undergraduate men reported experiencing nonconsensual sexual contact by physical force or inability to consent since enrolling.
Therefore, Be It Resolved that Grand Street Democrats:
1. Strongly supports A.101/S.10632 or successor legislation in the 2027 session and the principle that voluntary intoxication does not constitute consent when a person is incapable of appraising or controlling their conduct; and,
2. Urges Speaker Heastie to promptly bring the legislation to the floor of the Assembly for a clear and decisive vote.
To be voted on by members November 10, 2026
