Rape is the one crime that’s rising in New York City, yet state law still preserves an antiquated rule that shields perps who prey on intoxicated women — and the Legislature’s leaders refuse to change it.
The case of sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein has generated countless political broadsides, but consider this: In New York, many of his victims could never have had him prosecuted for rape.
The moment he got them drunk, our law would’ve protected him.
And Epstein’s victims are not the exception — they are the norm.
Studies show 84% of sexual assaults involve alcohol or drugs, and nearly three-quarters of college-aged victims had consumed alcohol before their assault.
These are exactly the women New York abandons.
The man chiefly responsible for this unconscionable failure: Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie.
New York is one of the few states where it remains perfectly legal to have sex with someone who is too intoxicated to consent — as long as the victim voluntarily drank or got high earlier.
It doesn’t matter if she collapses on the floor.
It doesn’t matter if she can’t stand, walk or speak.
Unless she is fully unconscious, prosecutors often cannot bring rape charges.
The state Legislature is well aware of this legal gap.
A bill to fix it has been introduced, debated, revised and supported by prosecutors, advocates and survivors, most recently in June.
It has passed the state Senate overwhelmingly — five separate times.
Yet year after year, it dies in the Assembly for one reason: Speaker Heastie refuses to allow a vote.
Around Heastie’s office, the reason for that is unspoken, but widely understood.
Heastie, it’s said, believes the law would “send more black and brown men to jail” — and that’s something he will not allow.
No one disputes the importance of preventing unjust incarceration.
But the speaker’s logic has been twisted into a shield for the indefensible.
It’s simple common sense: We shouldn’t want to see any woman — of any ethnicity — raped and then told she doesn’t count because she had a few drinks.
But that’s exactly what Albany allows.
And it deepens an existing disparity: Black and Latina women are already about 30% less likely to see their sexual-assault cases prosecuted than white women.
The intoxication loophole isn’t just bad law; it’s discrimination in plain sight.
Consider the case of Christina Maxwell, a Manhattan woman who had two cocktails and a third drink she believes was laced with the drug GHB.
Surveillance footage captured her collapsing, unable to remain upright. A hair test confirmed the date-rape drug.
She pressed charges; the NYPD interviewed the suspect.
But no arrest was made — because under New York law, her voluntary alcohol consumption made prosecution nearly impossible.
Ask any district attorney: This loophole ties their hands.
Bronx DA Darcel Clark warns that prosecutors can’t bring charges even in cases of obvious predation if the victim became intoxicated on her own.
The District Attorneys Association supports closing the loophole. So do leading victim-advocacy groups.
So does the Senate. So do 92 Assembly members.
But the bill remains stuck behind one man’s desk.
And where is Gov. Kathy Hochul?
Silent. She won’t even say whether she supports the reform.
She won’t demand action. She won’t confront the speaker.
Her leadership is desperately needed, but she seems content to abide by Albany’s unwritten rule: the governor follows the speaker, not the other way around.
Meanwhile, rape in New York City is steadily rising.
As of Nov. 16, according to NYPD statistics, rape reports have jumped 16% in 2025 compared to last year — the highest level in at least six years.
Crime is falling across almost every other category: shootings, robberies, burglaries.
The single violent crime bucking the trend? Rape.
New York remains a predator-friendly state, and everyone in Albany knows it.
When the law says a victim “wasn’t incapacitated enough,” predators exploit that.
They know exactly which victims the system will not protect.
This isn’t progressivism. It isn’t compassion. And it certainly isn’t justice.
The bill to close the voluntary intoxication loophole would establish a simple new standard.
If a reasonable person can see that someone is too intoxicated to appraise or control their conduct, sex with him or her is a crime.
Not a radical idea. Not a partisan idea. Just basic decency.
Hochul must finally take a stand.
She must publicly support this measure, include it in her Executive Budget next year — and dare Heastie to take it out.
One man’s agenda cannot be allowed to stand in the way of justice for New York’s women any longer.
David Catalfamo, president of Capital Public Strategies, was the political director of Gov. George Pataki’s 1994 campaign.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
