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Texas Senate committee hears survivor-backed bill to expand legal definition of consent
Summary
The Senate Committee on Criminal Justice heard testimony on House Bill 3,073, the Summer Willis Act, a measure to define consent in the penal code and expand protections for people incapacitated by alcohol or other substances.
The Senate Committee on Criminal Justice on Tuesday heard testimony on House Bill 3,073, known as the Summer Willis Act, a bill that would add a uniform statutory definition of consent to Texas's penal code and expand protections for people who are incapacitated by alcohol or other substances. Sponsor Sen. Charles Paxton explained the substitute and the bill's aim to close what supporters called a gap in current law.
Supporters said the change would make it easier to prosecute cases where the victim was incapacitated and to align criminal law with current understandings of trauma and consent. "If we don't scream, if we don't fight, if we have been drugged and made too incapacitated to say no, it doesn't count," survivor Summer…
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