A California law allowing victims of sexual assault by law enforcement officers more time to seek redress in the courts against their assailants has prompted a spate of lawsuits across the state.
One Beverly Hills law firm has filed 135 suits totaling 147 plaintiffs in San Bernardino, Sacramento and Madera counties since the law took effect on Jan. 1. 2022, and expects to file at least 100 more cases on behalf of former prisoners at the California Institution for Women in Chino, the California Central Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, and the Folsom Women’s Facility.
AB 1455
The lawsuits were prompted by Assembly Bill 1455, authored by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October 2021.
AB 1455 gives victims of sexual assault by police and correctional officers two options: One is to sue in civil court up to 10 years after their assailants have been convicted of sexual assault or a crime in which sexual assault was initially alleged. The second is to sue up to 10 years after their assailants left the law enforcement agency they were working at when the assault occurred.
“This gives a voice and an opportunity to the most vulnerable to come forward and have an opportunity to be heard and an opportunity to get some sense of justice for being abused,” said James Lewis, an attorney at the law firm Slater Slater Schulman, which is representing the former prisoners. “The ones abusing their power should be held accountable.”
Prison assaults
All of the lawsuits are similar in nature and accuse various named or unidentified prison guards of sexually assaulting female inmates dating as far back as 10 years. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation also is named as a defendant in each lawsuit.
“The complaints describe numerous instances of sexual assault committed on plaintiffs while they were incarcerated in a California women’s detention facilities [sic] under control and supervision by the California…
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