Senator Alvarado-Gil Calls For Ending Rape Law Loophole

Sacramento, CA — Surrounded by survivors, law enforcement officials, and California Treasurer Fiona Ma, Mother Lode Democratic Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil hosted a press conference this morning calling for the passage of Senate Bill 268.

It would change existing law to make rape of an intoxicated person a violent felony if the defendant caused the intoxication of the victim in order to assault them.

SB 268 It will be reviewed by committees at the capitol over the coming months and Alvarado-Gil hopes it will eventually land on Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk.

She says, “This is a critical piece of legislation that is long, long, overdue. Decades overdue.”

Alvarado-Gil continued, “We know that perpetrators offend again, and again, and again unless they are held responsible for their decisions. I want to be clear that rape is a violent act, regardless of the circumstances surrounding it, but our current laws fail to reflect that truth.”

Current law classifies the rape of an intoxicated person as a “non-violent” felony, and Prop 57 allows for the early release of the perpetrators convicted of the crime.