Skip to content Skip to search

Republish This Story

* Please read before republishing *

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Creative Commons license as long as you follow our republishing guidelines, which require that you credit The 19th and retain our pixel. See our full guidelines for more information.

To republish, simply copy the HTML at right, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to The 19th. Have questions? Please email [email protected].

— The Editors

Loading...

Modal Gallery

/
All donations doubled!

Menu

  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Search
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships
    • From the Collection

      Changing Child Care

      Illustration of a woman feeding a baby a bottle
      • The full PUMP Act is now in effect. Here’s what it does for lactating parents.

        Chabeli Carrazana · April 28
      • 1 in 4 parents report being fired for work interruptions due to child care breakdowns

        Chabeli Carrazana · February 2
      • Washington, D.C., offers financial relief to local child care workers

        Orion Rummler · September 20
    • From the Collection

      Next-Gen GOP

      Illustration of a woman riding an elephant
      • Mayra Flores’ victory set a record for women in Congress. It also reflects the growing visibility of Republican Latinas

        Candice Norwood · June 21
      • A banner year for Republican women

        Amanda Becker · November 11
      • Republican women could double representation in the U.S. House

        Amanda Becker · November 4
    • From the Collection

      On The Rise

      Illustration of three women marching
      • A train derailment spilled toxic chemicals in her Ohio town. Now she’s running for mayor.

        Jessica Kutz · November 6
      • This Delaware candidate could be the first transgender member of Congress

        Orion Rummler · June 26
      • Can Cheri Beasley build a winning coalition in North Carolina?

        Candice Norwood · October 11
    • From the Collection

      Pandemic Within a Pandemic

      Illustration of four people marching for Black Lives Matter with coronavirus as the backdrop
      • Some LGBTQ+ people worry that the COVID-19 vaccine will affect HIV medication. It won’t.

        Orion Rummler · November 23
      • Why are more men dying from COVID? It’s a complicated story of nature vs. nurture, researchers say

        Mariel Padilla · September 22
      • Few incarcerated women were released during COVID. The ones who remain have struggled.

        Candice Norwood · August 17
    • From the Collection

      Portraits of a Pandemic

      Illustration of a woman wearing a mask and holding up the coronavirus
      • For family caregivers, COVID is a mental health crisis in the making

        Shefali Luthra · October 8
      • A new database tracks COVID-19’s effects on sex and gender

        Shefali Luthra · September 15
      • Pregnant in a pandemic: The 'perfect storm for a crisis'

        Shefali Luthra · August 25
    • From the Collection

      The 19th Explains

      People walking from many articles to one article where they can get the context they need on an issue.
      • The 19th Explains: How guns and domestic violence intersect in a Supreme Court case

        Jennifer Gerson · November 1
      • The 19th Explains: What to know about Ohio Issue 1

        Grace Panetta · October 16
      • The 19th Explains: The groundwork for a Supreme Court case on gender-affirming care is being laid now

        Orion Rummler · October 12
    • From the Collection

      The Electability Myth

      Illustration of three women speaking at podiums
      • Mayra Flores’ victory set a record for women in Congress. It also reflects the growing visibility of Republican Latinas

        Candice Norwood · June 21
      • Stepping in after tragedy: How political wives became widow lawmakers

        Mariel Padilla · May 24
      • Do term limits help women candidates? New York could be a new testing ground

        Barbara Rodriguez · January 11
    • From the Collection

      The Impact of Aging

      A number of older people walking down a path of information.
      • From ballroom dancing to bloodshed, the older AAPI community grapples with gun control

        Nadra Nittle, Mariel Padilla · January 27
      • 'I'm planning on working until the day I die': Older women voters are worried about the future

        Mariel Padilla · June 3
      • Climate change is forcing care workers to act as first responders

        Jessica Kutz · May 31
    • From the Collection

      The State of Our Nation

      • Democracy is a kitchen table issue

        Errin Haines · September 21
    • From the Collection

      Voting Rights

      A series of hands reaching for ballots.
      • Voting organizers are breathing ‘a deep sigh of relief’ over Supreme Court rulings on elections — for now

        Barbara Rodriguez · July 6
      • Ranked-choice voting is gaining momentum. So are efforts to stop it.

        Barbara Rodriguez · April 24
      • Connecticut voters approved early voting. Here’s how their new secretary of state wants to make it happen.

        Barbara Rodriguez · February 13

    View all collections

  • Explore by Topic

    • 19th Polling
    • Abortion
    • Business & Economy
    • Caregiving
    • Coronavirus
    • Education
    • Election 2020
    • Election 2022
    • Election 2024
    • Environment & Climate
    • Health
    • Immigration
    • Inside The 19th
    • Justice
    • LGBTQ+
    • Military
    • Politics
    • Press Release
    • Race
    • Sports
    • Technology

    View All Topics

Home
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Search
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships

We’re an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Read our story.

Fall Member Drive

Support the nonprofit news you trust through the critical moments that shape our democracy and our lives.

Donate Today

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

E. Jean Carroll departs the Manhattan Federal Court smiling while surrounded by lawyers and photojournalists.
E. Jean Carroll departs the Manhattan Federal Court in New York City on May 9, 2023 after a jury found Donald Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation. (Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images)

Justice

How a new law allowed E. Jean Carroll to seek justice against Trump years later

Survivors of sexual assault and advocates helped pass the Adult Survivors Act in New York that was instrumental to Carroll’s civil case. They hope more people will file claims under the law, an option that expires in six months.

Barbara Rodriguez

State Politics and Voting Reporter

Barbara Rodriguez portrait

Published

2023-05-11 09:34
9:34
May 11, 2023
am

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Your trusted source for contextualizing the news. Sign up for our daily newsletter.

A new law in New York is behind the civil lawsuit brought by E. Jean Carroll against Donald Trump, and survivors hope the spotlight put on it by this week’s verdict against the former president means more people might use it. 

The law opened a one-time window for adult sexual assault survivors in New York to file a civil case against an abuser or institution that protected the abuser — no matter when the assault took place, even if it’s outside the statute of limitations. But that window expires in six months. 

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

“We want people who think they might want to utilize this very precious window that we opened for them, to know that they need to act soon,” said Marissa Hoechstetter, who is among a group of survivors of sexual assault who volunteered their time for years to help get the Adult Survivors Act passed.

The law, which has a one-year window through late November, follows a 2019 law that expanded opportunities for survivors of child sexual assault to file civil lawsuits.

Advocacy groups are hopeful that the Carroll case may encourage more people to step forward. Tamika Payne, acting executive director of the New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault, noted that it takes a long time for survivors to get to a place where they can endure going through the legal system and the scrutiny that may come with that. 

  • Previous Coverage:
    E. Jean Carroll leaves following her trial at Manhattan Federal Court as supporters hold signs and cheer around the courthouse.
  • Previous Coverage: Jury finds Donald Trump assaulted, defamed E. Jean Carroll

“These retrospective windows allow survivors the time that we know is necessary to heal and get to a place where they can come forward,” she said. 

A day after the verdict was read, Alison Turkos, another survivor of sexual assault, was on social media, encouraging strangers to reach out to her if they needed help finding a lawyer. It’s an extension of work she and others have done for months to get the word out about the law.

Turkos, who has spoken publicly about being raped in 2017 and later sued law enforcement for their response to her case, said it can be daunting to figure out how to find a trauma-informed attorney or determine the appropriate amount to pay them. 

“All of these questions that come up, that can be really hard when you make the decision to file a lawsuit,” she said. “As someone who has been inside the system for years, I’m not saying I’m an expert, but I just have institutional knowledge that I’m not going to gate-keep.”

Alison Turkos speaks during a news conference.
Alison Turkos (right) speaks during a news conference to discuss a lawsuit against the New York Police Department for “failing sexual assault victims,” in January 2019 in New York City. (Bebeto Matthews/AP)

It’s unclear how many people have filed a civil claim under the law, though nearly 70 plaintiffs were estimated to have filed lawsuits by earlier this year. Women who are currently in prison or formerly incarcerated in New York also indicated last year that they may file claims over alleged sexual abuse involving prison officials.

Hoechstetter, who has also spoken publicly about being sexually assaulted by an OB-GYN who is accused of assaulting dozens of women, said the law has opened opportunities for survivors to seek justice not through formal claims but also through mediation. She said that is important context.

“We’ve given people leverage and power, and that is what I think for me is the takeaway about the law,” she said. “It’s not so much about how many cases get filed or maybe a verdict, although obviously we want to see these verdicts go a certain way. It’s about giving people back their power.”

Within hours of the law going into effect in late November, Carroll filed a battery and defamation civil suit against Trump. (She filed a separate defamation suit in 2019 that has been postponed.)

Carroll said Trump raped her in a dressing room during a chance encounter at a Bergdorf Goodman store in New York City in the 1990s. After she went public with her experience, she said Trump defamed her on social media when he denied the allegation. Trump denied the allegations.

  • More like this
    Donald Trump stands at a podium with American flags behind him
  • Trump uses CNN town hall to insult a woman he assaulted
  • Tucker Carlson, Don Lemon and Jeff Shell lost their TV news jobs. Misogyny has a lot to do with it, experts say.
  • Trump’s charges are about business records. They’re also about how he treats women.

On Tuesday, a jury determined that Carroll did not prove her allegation of rape but agreed Trump is liable for sexual abuse and defamation. They awarded her $5 million in damages.

Trump does not face jail time in connection to the case, but it comes as he seeks another presidential run and faces unrelated criminal charges tied to numerous investigations related to his time in office.

“I filed this lawsuit against Donald Trump to clear my name and to get my life back,” Carroll said in a statement released Tuesday. She added: “This victory is not just for me but for every woman who has suffered because she was not believed.”

On Wednesday, Carroll also tweeted: ”WE WON”.

Deborah Tuerkheimer, a professor of law at Northwestern University and the author of “Credible: Why We Doubt Accusers and Protect Abusers,” watched the Carroll case unfold and looked for “credibility discounting” — instances when survivors of sexual assault face unfair barriers to being believed in various forms.

Tuerkheimer said it was important to see jurors in the Carroll case reject such attempts in a high-profile trial, though she noted it doesn’t eliminate the immediate challenges for survivors in other cases.

“But this is how the credibility discount gets dissolved,” she said. “It’s moments like this that accumulate over the course of years and decades that give me hope that we’re seeing progress,” she said.

Payne said while the Carroll case is significant and highlights the benefits of the new law, there’s much more work that needs to be done to ensure access to justice is inclusive.

“We need to see the law work for everyone,” she said. 

Marissa Hoechstetter speaks at a rally in support of the Adult Survivors Act in February 2020 in New York City.
Marissa Hoechstetter speaks at a rally in support of the Adult Survivors Act in February 2020 in New York City. (Scott Heins/Getty Images)

Payne said it’s also important for public officials to address years of reduced funding for state and federal services that help victims of crimes, including survivors of sexual assault. Her organization and other advocacy groups are urging the New York legislature and Hochul to add about $26 million to the Office of Victim Services in the state budget.

“You do not have to face this alone,” Payne said for any survivors who may file a claim or seek other services. “There are organizations, and we are one, who are here to help you navigate your options.”

Turkos hopes state lawmakers consider extending the November 2023 deadline or removing it altogether. And she hopes more states consider similar laws. (California has a more limited law in the books.) Turkos said she was ready to hop on a plane to visit other legislatures to testify about the benefits of such policies, if it helps other survivors of sexual assault seek justice.

“We are better when we work together,” she said. “If you want to know what got us there, I will tell you everything. It’s not true survivor justice for us as advocates and activists and survivors to hold on to this information.”

Hoechstetter said that advocates had also reached out to her about passing similar laws elsewhere. She’s feeling hopeful about the work that’s been done in New York and could happen elsewhere.

“It is a feeling of pride, because it is a journey,” she said. “I’m not like, ‘Oh, what’s next?’ I feel like we’re still in it. I think just making sure people know about it and know there’s a community of people — whether they want to be connected or remain anonymous — who did this for them, are rooting for them, and support them.”

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Fall Member Drive

Support the nonprofit news you trust through the critical moments that shape our democracy and our lives.

Donate Today

Up Next

E. Jean Carroll leaves following her trial at Manhattan Federal Court as supporters hold signs and cheer around the courthouse.

Justice

Jury finds Donald Trump assaulted, defamed E. Jean Carroll

A nine-member jury returned the verdict after hours of deliberations in a civil trial that began in late April and spanned several weeks.

Read the Story

The 19th
The 19th is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Our stories are free to republish in accordance with these guidelines.

  • Donate
  • Newsletter
  • Events
  • Search
  • Jobs
  • Fellowships
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Community Guidelines
  • Membership
  • Membership FAQ
  • Ways to Give
  • Sponsorship
  • Privacy
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram