Latest news with #HouseBill3073
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Bill named for UT Austin student passes, closes sexual assault loophole
Content Warning: This article discusses sexual assault. Please return to the homepage if you are not comfortable with the topic. If you are in distress and need to speak with someone, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas will close a loophole in its sexual assault laws after the Texas Senate passed House Bill 3073 on Wednesday, which makes it a crime in Texas to have sex with a person who is voluntarily intoxicated. Sexual assault survivors testify to Senate committee on bill to close loophole Previously, in order to convict someone for a sexual assault, prosecutors had to prove that a defendant had 'intentionally impaired the other person's power to appraise or control the other person's conduct by administering any substance without the other person's knowledge.' For survivors like bill namesake Summer Willis, this wording prevented her from pressing charges. The new Texas' Penal code language will instead read: 'A sexual assault … is without the consent of the other person if the actor knows that the other person is intoxicated or impaired by any substance to the extent that the other person is incapable of consenting' The sexual assault statutes would now cite an already enrolled definition of consent — 'assent in fact, whether express or apparent.' The bill came out of Gov. Greg Abbott's Sexual Assault Survivors Task Force and supporters said that it had his support. Unless Abbott issues a surprise veto, the bill goes into law on Sept. 1. HB 3073 narrowly avoided multiple deadlines near the end of the session. Willis and other organizers told KXAN that they've been pushing for the change for over 10 years. Previous: Survivors urge Texas lawmakers to close sexual assault loophole before bill dies The delayed start of the new law means that it will not cover assaults of intoxicated people occurring prior to September. HB 3073 was authored by Reps. Donna Howard, D-Austin; Ellen Troxclair, R-Lakeway; Ann Johnson, D-Houston; David Cook, R-Mansfield; and Nichole Collier, D-Fort Worth. Its Senate sponsor was Sen. Angela Paxton, R-McKinney. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
The law didn't recognize my sexual assault. Texas lawmakers must fix that
Two years ago, I set off on a journey that would change my life. A journey to heal. To reclaim my story. To take back the night that shattered everything for me as a sophomore at the University of Texas, when I was sexually assaulted. I didn't know then what this path would look like. I just knew I had to do something. I ended up running 29 marathons across this country. At finish lines, on playgrounds, in quiet moments between interviews — I met survivors. Story after story felt far too similar to mine. The weight of those stories pressed down on me until silence was no longer an option. I didn't know what to do with that weight at first. So I turned it into something visible. I ran a marathon carrying a mattress — because that's what survivors are forced to carry every single day, the weight of what was done to us, and a world that too often refuses to believe us. Then I found out the worst night of my life didn't even count as a sexual assault in the eyes of Texas law. I was assaulted 10 years ago when I went to a fraternity party with a group of my sorority sisters. I was handed a drink that I believe was laced with something, because I have little memory of that night. But I remember the bed. And I remember saying "no" over and over again. I was clearly targeted. Taken advantage of. Humiliated. One person handed me a drink, and another person took what wasn't his. I can't remember the worst part of that night, but I do remember this: He laughed. He laughed while explaining what he did. I've had to ask a question no Texan should ever have to ask: Would it have been better if I was raped in a different state — like Florida or Oklahoma — where at least they would tell me that what happened to me counts? I can't begin to describe what survivors go through after we survive. I don't have words strong enough to express what it feels like to know that, for many of us, our own state offers loopholes to our rapists while closing the doors of justice to us. Texas' law fails to properly address sexual assaults that happen when a person is unable to consent because of intoxication or impairment from a substance. The law also fails to recognize it's an assault when sexual activity happens after a person has withdrawn their consent. House Bill 3073, which passed the House 129-4, would clarify the legal definition of sexual assault in both of those areas. But we're still waiting for the Senate to move forward on this bill to make it clear that no one deserves to be violated, and no one deserves to be disbelieved. This is not a radical request. Gov. Greg Abbott's Sexual Assault Survivors' Task Force recommended these clarifications to the law. Our representatives overwhelmingly support it. Members of the Texas Senate, don't let silence be your answer. In February, as I crawled the Austin Marathon for 22 hours, it was the worst pain I've ever known. My knees were shredded. My hands were bruised and bleeding. But I kept crawling because that's what survivors are forced to do. We crawl through pain. Through shame. Through silence. I still had 13 miles to go to complete the marathon distance. But I made a decision in that moment: I didn't have to stay down anymore. I could stand. I could walk. I could run. I could fight. And that's what I'm doing now. I'm fighting for every survivor who was silenced, every survivor who wasn't believed, every survivor still carrying the weight. So Sen. Pete Flores and members of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee: Please don't let Texas be a state where survivors are forced to crawl. Help us stand. Vote HB 3073 out of committee now, before it's too late. Summer Willis is a Texas-born survivor and founder of Strength Through Strides, a nonprofit that empowers survivors and advocates for policy reforms around sexual assault. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Senate running out of time to close sexual assault loopholes | Opinion
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'Summer Willis Act' passes Texas House, needs Senate vote
The Brief Summer Willis Act passed Texas House, needs Senate vote scheduled Act is named for Summer Willis, a sexual assault survivor and activist Act clarifies that sex without clear, ongoing and informed consent is sexual assault AUSTIN, Texas - A sexual assault survivor is fighting for legislation to clarify the definition of consent. The bill has passed in the House but still needs to be scheduled for a vote in the Senate, or it will die this session. What we know House Bill 3073, also known as the Summer Willis Act, clarifies that sex without clear, ongoing, and informed consent, especially when someone is intoxicated or unable to resist, is sexual assault. The bill has passed in the House but needs to be heard in the Criminal Justice Committee and voted on before heading to the Senate. If it does make it to the Governor's desk, and he signs it, it will go into effect Sept. 1. What they're saying "Right now, Texas is saying the worst thing that ever happened to me does not count and to hear that, I have chills all over my body," sexual assault survivor and activist Summer Willis said. "None of us would think that it would make sense to engage in a contract with someone who was impaired. We would know that. And so this really is just common-sense legislation," state Sen. Angela Paxton said. "I've been making calls and connections, connecting with survivors, doing anything I can to make sure that for the first time in ten years that I can have justice, but so can survivors across Texas," Willis said. The backstory About 10 years ago, Summer Willis said she was at a frat party at UT Austin, was drugged by one person and raped by another. The case was never prosecuted. About two years ago, Willis started running. "This was for me to finally stop running away from the shadow of sexual assault and run towards healing," Willis said. She ran 29 marathons in a year. One marathon she ran with a mattress on her back. "Survivors are forced to carry an invisible weight every single day. The weight of what was done to us. In a world that too often refuses to believe us," Willis said. Willis said when she started telling her story, many other survivors shared theirs. "In the aftermath, I felt broken," survivor Sophia-Rose Centurioni said. "We must call this what it is and we must protect those too vulnerable to protect themselves in that moment," survivor Dr. Lavinia Masters said. "I started thinking, how can I actually help them? What can I change to make this better? Willis said. The Source Information in this report comes from reporting/interviews by FOX 7 Austin's Meredith Aldis.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Survivors urge Texas lawmakers to close sexual assault loophole before bill dies
Content Warning: This article discusses sexual assault. Please return to the homepage if you are not comfortable with the topic. If you are in distress and need to speak with someone, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. AUSTIN (KXAN) — Sexual assault survivors and advocates said they would rally at the Texas Capitol Monday around 12:30 p.m. to voice support for a bill that could close a loop in the state's sex crime laws, according to a press release. House Bill 3073, named the 'Summer Willis Act,' passed in the House on May 1 with only four representatives voting against it, according to legislative records. It would add language to the Texas' sexual assault statute to include offenses while a victim is voluntarily intoxicated. 'Because of gaps in Texas law, Summer Willis was denied justice,' the release states. 'This bill strengthens our laws and moves Texas closer to ensuring that every sexual assault case is met with the seriousness and justice it deserves.' The rally will feature other sexual assault survivors and advocates, including Dr. Lavinia Masters and the family of Jeffery Epstein survivor Virginia Giuffre, according to the release. The bill is now before the Senate's Criminal Justice Committee, which is led by Sen. Pete Flores, R-Pleasanton, and Sen. Tan Parker, R-Flower Mound. That committee has held three meetings since the bill was referred to it. According to the release, Willis and other advocates are worried that the bill will die in committee. As of Monday morning, the bill is not listed on the committee's Tuesday agenda. Willis, a sexual assault survivor, is scheduled to speak at the rally to 'urge Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to overrule Flores and schedule the vote.' 'Texas, I can't begin to describe what survivors go through after we survive,' said Willis in the release. 'And I don't have words strong enough to describe what it feels like to know our state offers loopholes to rapists and locked doors to us.' Willis was honored in the Senate Monday morning While not an official deadline, time is running out on the 89th legislative session; the last day for the Senate to consider HB 3073 is May 28. The committee does not have any other meetings scheduled ahead of that deadline, according to legislative records. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
