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Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Criminal Law

2017

Brooklyn Law School

Sexual assault; intoxication; voluntary intoxication; sex crimes; consensual sex; nonconsensual sex; alcohol; drugs; consent; capacity; incapacity; sexual assault legislation

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The Conundrum Of Voluntary Intoxication And Sex, Michal Buchhandler-Raphael Jan 2017

The Conundrum Of Voluntary Intoxication And Sex, Michal Buchhandler-Raphael

Brooklyn Law Review

Research shows that a significant number of sexual assaults occur after victims have consumed an excessive amount of intoxicants, rendering them substantially impaired and incapable of opposing nonconsensual sexual acts. Existing sexual assault statutes mostly criminalize sexual acts with involuntarily intoxicated people, namely when the defendant administered the intoxicants to the victim. Most of these statutes, however, do not directly prohibit sexual intercourse with voluntarily intoxicated victims whose intoxication was self-inflicted. While general prohibitions against sexual intercourse with physically and mentally incapacitated individuals may be used to prosecute sexual assaults of intoxicated victims, they offer only an incomplete solution to …