Questions and criticisms about the handling of an alleged 2024 rape case at Cornell University have led to calls for action in Albany.
Lawmakers in both chambers are eyeing changes to close loopholes and strengthen enforcement against perpetrators and institutions once the session begins in January.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie announced Wednesday that he’s tasked a group of lawmakers with drafting recommendations by the end of the year.
“The allegations being reported out of Cornell University are truly horrifying,” Heastie said in a statement. “ We want to do everything we can to ensure victims of sexual assault see justice served.”
The Tompkins County District Attorney announced this week he was reopening the case, which was closed in 2024 without criminal charges. The turnabout comes after the the alleged victim sued Cornell claiming the university failed to take sufficient action after she reporting being drugged and brutally raped by seven men at Cornell’s Chi Phi fraternity house. But prosecutors said that, in 2024, she told investigators she voluntarily used drugs and consented to sex.
That makes a difference in New York law, according to Sen. Zellnor Myrie, D-Brooklyn. He chairs the Senate’s Codes Committee, which handles legislation related to criminal law.
“There is a very unfortunate loophole in New York's laws right now that say if you were voluntarily intoxicated, that becomes the focal point of proving whether an individual was a victim of rape or sexual assault,” Myrie said.
Legislation to make it illegal to have sex with someone too intoxicated to consent, sponsored by Sen. Nathalia Fernandez, D-Bronx, passed the state Senate this year but failed to pass the Assembly.
Myrie, who is a graduate of Cornell Law School, said he hopes that bill and others on individual’s capacity to consent will pass next session. But this isn’t just a matter for Albany, he said.
“We can't just focus on changing the laws, but we have to change the culture,” Myrie said.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has called for an independent review of how Cornell University handled the case. She said late Wednesday that she spoke with Cornell’s president and that the university had agreed to the review.
And Assemblymember Pat Burke, D-Buffalo, said Wednesday that he plans to introduce legislation aimed at holding entities like universities and Catholic dioceses accountable if they are found to have covered up serious crimes like rape or murder.
In a statement to NPR, Cornell said it is "committed to continuing to work with state officials to advance student safety and wellbeing."
Hochul, Heastie, and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, who also pledged “smart legislative fixes” in response to the Cornell case, are all ex officio members of the university’s Board of Trustees because of its status as the state’s land grant school. That gives them a seat at the table, but not a vote on board matters.
Includes reporting by Buffalo Toronto Public Media reporter Alex Simone.
