From CenterClip: End Statute Of Limitations On Sexual Assault

None

Episode Transcript

(00:02):
Is it just me? Or havewe all lost our minds? It's a
question I've been asking myself on repeatfor the last eight years, and I
know I'm not alone in that.Is it the politics, is it the
culture? Or am I just gettingold? Hi? I'm Jennifer Horn and
I'm a former Republican strategist and partyleader turned independent sanity activist. I decided

(00:25):
to do this podcast so we couldexplore these questions. I'll bring experts to
the table from politics and media andculture. We'll have raw, insightful conversations
with the clear goal of getting tothe bottom of it all. One way
or another. We've all lost ourminds, and I hope you'll join us
on the journey to find them again. Hi, this is Jennifer Horn on

(00:47):
centric clip jumping into Denny's conversation.A topic of the day, and that's
New York States Adult Survivor Act,which was an acted about a year ago
and allows victims of certain sexual crimesto come forward beyond the statute of limitation.
But it was effective for just ayear. This week it will expire,

(01:07):
and the question is should it continue, should it be extended? Should
it have ever accessed to begin with, Unfortunately, I have some very significant
experience with these types of crimes,especially there are people very very close to
me whom I hold dear, whohave unfortunately suffered from sexual assault. And

(01:33):
I spent some time working closely withan organization in New Hampshire that supports and
services people who are victims of sexualassault. Black I can tell you about
that crime is that it is itsvery nature create circumstances where it's victims do
not feel safe coming forward, andfrequently they are not safe coming forward where

(02:00):
they're the victim, they are victimsof people who are close to them,
who are actively in their lives boyfriend's, husbands, fathers, bosses, quite
often where power and authority over thevictim, whether it's a woman grown up
or a child, where that it'sit's a crime of violence and a crime

(02:23):
of power and authority. It isnot a crime of passion, It is
not a crime of sex or loveor anything like that. It is a
crime of violence and of power andauthority. And I think it's important to
understand that because it inherently creates acircumstance where it's extremely difficult for victims to

(02:45):
come forward. And I think thatit's really important when we talk about laws
that we talk about justice as muchas orroriydan things like seven years or six
months or twelve months or whatever theother sort of details of a statue of

(03:07):
limitations is. I think that statuteof limitations in general is a concept that
should be revisited. I know that'sa conversation for another day, But because
I am so familiar with the detailsof the types of crimes that are covered
under New York States Adult Survivor Actin this particular case, I feel very
strongly that it should be that itshould not just speak extended, but that

(03:30):
the statute of limitations should be eliminatedwhen people are victims of such crimes where
somebody is using their power over them, their proximity to them in order to
one keep them silent, two protectthemselves from being held legally accountable, and
three creating a situation where they cancontinue to commit these crimes against the same

(03:54):
person over and over again. Wehave to look at that differently. Women,
children, men who are also sometimesvictims of these crimes need to be
able to get to a place intheir lives where they are where they feel
confident, safe, secure, andable to come forward with these accusations and

(04:17):
still feel like they will be protected, they can protect themselves. It doesn't
in any way eliminate the opportunity orthe ability for the accused to defend themselves.
They are still held accountable to thesame level of proof as they would
at any other time or with anyother crime. These are devastating crimes.

(04:41):
They destroy people, They especially destroychildren. I would invite you to go
to my podcast is it Just Meor Have we All Lost our Minds?
Where I interviewed a woman who wasrepeatedly sexually assaulted by her father throughout her
childhood in order for you to reallyunderstand what these crimes are, the damages

(05:01):
that these crimes do. So Iparticularly appreciate this question of the day,
and again, just to be clear, I think that New York should extend
this law or eliminate the statute oflimitations all together for these types of crimes,
and frankly every other state as well.