The Oklahoma legislature has passed a new bill that will add a law defining "sexual consent" to the state statutes and will broaden the statute pertaining to forcible sodomy.
House Bill 2398 was amended and strengthened following an Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals affirmation of a lower court's ruling that the state's forcible sodomy law did not apply in instances where the victim is unconscious or too heavily intoxicated to provide or withhold consent.
The bill passed both the House and Senate by a landslide before being sent to Governor Mary Fallin for approval. Fallin signed the bill, which is to become effective immediately.
Known as the Justice for J.W. Act of 2016, the law contains several major provisions:
- Creating a new law that says any degree of force constitutes forcible sexual assault, and such force need not be physical (for example, coercion or fear can be elements of force, as can any degree of force, "no matter how slight," used to accomplish a nonconsensual act.
- Creating a new law that defines sexual assault as any sexual contact or behavior, or attempted sexual contact or behavior, that occurs without explicit consent.
- Creating a new law that defines consent and outlines situations in which consent cannot be assumed or inferred.
- Amending the 21 O.S. § 888, the state's forcible sodomy law, to expand the circumstances constituting forcible sodomy and bringing the statute in line with Oklahoma rape laws.
The new law defines sexual consent as an "affirmative, unambiguous and voluntary agreement to engage in a specific sexual activity during a sexual encounter which can be revoked at any time." In other words, consent must be clearly given and cannot be coerced. By law, a person can change his or her mind to withdraw consent at any time--whether the consent was given weeks or days prior to the present incident or even during the present incident.
Furthermore, the state's new definition provides specific circumstances in which consent cannot be given or inferred:
Consent cannot be:
1. Given by an individual who:
a. is asleep or is mentally or physically incapacitated either through the effect of drugs or alcohol or for any other reason, or
b. is under duress, threat, coercion or force; or
2. Inferred under circumstances in which consent is not clear including, but not limited to:
a. the absence of an individual saying "no" or "stop", or
b. the existence of a prior or current relationship or sexual activity.
As for the changes to Oklahoma's forcible sodomy laws, the state legislature added the following two circumstances to the pre-existing five circumstances for forcible sodomy:
6. Sodomy committed upon a person who is at the time unconscious of the nature of the act, and this fact should be known to the accused; or
7. Sodomy committed upon a person where the person is intoxicated by a narcotic or anesthetic agent administered by or with the privity of the accused as a means of forcing the person to submit.
If you or someone you love has been accused of alcohol-involved sexual assault, call (405) 417-3842 to schedule a free, confidential case review.
