Wisconsin is considering a proposal to offer legal immunity from certain controlled substance charges for people who call 911 from the scene of a sexual assault—an extension of the current law that applies to calling for help during an overdose.
Assembly Bill 414 was introduced in late August, and is now slated to be discussed by the Assembly Criminal Justice and Public Safety on October 1. A companion bill was introduced in the Senate in early September.
Other provisions of the bill would strengthen lease termination protections for sexual assault survivors, as well as extend the statute of limitations for filing complaints of second-degree sexual assault from 10 years to 20 years.
The bill would include protections against revocation of bail, parole, probation or other forms of state supervision. It would also expand immunity from charges related to alcohol possession or consumption, for those under age 21, if they “sought to report or request assistance for the sex offense”; current law only offers those protections to the victim or a bystander who was present with them at the time.
However, the bill would only extend immunity if the person “provides a name and contact information and furnishes any requested information,” unless they’re incapacitated at the time. This may discourage people from calling for help.
Overdose “Good Samaritan” laws are an asset to public health, but are also rife with fine print.
Overdose “Good Samaritan” laws, as they’re commonly known, vary a lot from state to state. But broadly speaking they grant people who call 911 to the scene of an overdose some degree of legal immunity related to possession of controlled substances. Often the immunity extends to the person who was overdosing, and in some cases it also protects against revocation of parole or probation.
The laws exist to counteract the chilling effect law enforcement has on calling for help during an overdose, and they are an asset to public health, but they are also rife with fine print that excludes many low-income drug users from protection.
The majority of sexual assaults involve victims who were under the influence of drugs or alcohol, with estimates as high as 84 percent, according to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN).
“Police involvement is the primary reason people hesitate to call for medical assistance during an overdose,” RAINN, which supports the bill, states in its immunity law guidance for legislators. “The immunity offered through ‘Good Samaritan’ drug laws prioritizes the importance of public health and results in the accessibility of life-saving treatment.”
Applied in sexual assault cases, such bills wouldn’t extend legal immunity to the alleged perpetrator of the assault, which is where the parallel to overdose protections becomes more nuanced. Good Samaritan overdose laws often cast the person alleged to have supplied the drugs to the victim as the “perpetrator”—but in reality these are typically friends or acquaintances who did not intend to harm the victim and are often the ones to call for help. The person who calls 911 to the scene of a sexual assault is unlikely be the same person who committed the assault.
Most states don’t extend these laws to sexual assault reporting, but Wisconsin wouldn’t be the first to do so.
“Current state laws discourage reporting,” RAINN continued. “Survivors’ fear of repercussions for alcohol and drug use/simple possession incentivizes perpetrators to harm individuals who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, since they are less likely to go to the authorities.”
Most overdose Good Samaritan laws don’t explicitly cover sexual assault reporting, but Wisconsin would not be the first state to expand immunity in this way.
Virginia enacted similar legislation in July, with protections covering controlled substance and “paraphernalia” possession, as well as public intoxication, for anyone reporting an assault committed against themselves or someone else. The new law also protects against revocation of bail, parole, probation or other forms of supervised release. All immunity is contingent upon providing identification to law enforcement.
Minnesota enacted a version in 2021, in the wake of backlash to a state Supreme Court ruling that the definition of “mentally incapacitated” did not extend to sexual assault victims who’d become intoxicated voluntarily.
Image via Claremont County, Ohio