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Committee advances bill to eliminate spousal exemption for sex crimes involving people with disabilities
Summary
SB 258 would remove a longstanding spousal exception that currently makes certain sexual offenses against spouses with disabilities non-criminal; advocates and prosecutors urged the committee to pass the bill while disability-rights groups asked for amendments to protect consensual relationships and define capacity standards.
The Assembly Public Safety Committee voted to pass SB 258 to the Appropriations Committee after a lengthy hearing in which author Sen. Wahab and multiple victims, prosecutors and disability-services groups presented competing perspectives on removing the spousal exception from criminal statutes covering sexual assault of people who cannot consent because of disability.
Sen. Wahab described the bill as a narrow measure to "declare sex is sex" and to close a loophole that allows an adult to escape criminal liability for sex with a spouse who cannot consent because of an intellectual or…
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