Adult Survivors Act to bring new flood of sex claims to New York courts (New York Post)
Extract:
A new law giving sex-assault victims a shot at justice is about to flood New York’s already bogged-down courts with even more cases.
The legal window for victims 18 and older to bring their claims of sex assault and abuse to court regardless of when the crime occurred, is set to open in the Empire State Thursday, under the Adult Survivors Act. Typically, survivors have less than five years to bring such claims in civil court.
Hundreds of cases are already anticipated to be filed under the new law, with 750 women who claim they were abused in state prisons expected to bring their allegations to court.
Writer E. Jean Carroll, who has accused former President Trump of raping her in Manhattan in the 1990s, also plans to use the legal window to bring her claims against Trump to court, her lawyers said last week.
Those who work with sex assault victims praised the new law.
“For those of us who worked with people who have been victimized, this is wonderful to finally get justice in a court. We’ve had quite a few people contacting us,” said lawyer Ann Olivarius. “Hopefully it will trigger other states to do the same thing.”
This video from the Office of Governor Kathy Hochul shows her signing the Adult Survivor Act in May 2022 in Albany, New York.