BPHA Rallies Behind Fair Access to Justice Act in "Robert Brooks Blueprint For Justice & Reform" Package

ALBANY, NY (06/06/2025) (readMedia)-- This morning, the New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislative Caucus (BPHA) held a press conference unveiling the "Robert Brooks Blueprint for Justice & Reform", a legislative package aimed to address systemic patterns of abuse and violations of human rights in New York's jails and prisons. One of the priority bills in this package is the Fair Access to Justice Act (A649 Cruz / S844 Salazar), which would remove unfair legal hurdles keeping survivors abused in state custody from accessing the justice they deserve.

Right now, individuals abused in state custody, like prisons or state-run mental health facilities, are required to file a notice to sue the state in the Court of Claims within 90 days of their abuse, usually while they are still in custody. Current law also requires these particular survivors to report the time, date, and location of their abuse, a standard that the state Court of Appeals upheld in March. These are nearly impossible requirements for incarcerated survivors and other survivors in state custody to meet. Although formerly incarcerated survivors filed 1,553 claims under the Adult Survivors Act, the lookback window to sue the state regardless of when the abuse took place is now closed, leaving others without legal recourse.

The Fair Access Justice Act would fix this double standard by increasing the filing time frame from within 90 days of the incident to three years after release, with the clock starting on the release date. It would also allow survivors to describe their abuse to the best of their knowledge without requiring them to report the specific details of the incident. Advocates, bill sponsors, and BPHA members are calling on Albany to pass this urgent bill before session ends. Fair Access to Justice is also a priority bill in the Survivor Justice Coalition's legislative package - four bills that would put power back into the hands of survivors in New York. The bill is currently in the Assembly and Senate Judiciary Committees.

"We represent women who have been abused, dismissed, devalued, and denied their basic rights and humanity. For too long, their voices have been silenced. This bill is not just policy - it is a lifeline. It offers a path to justice, recognition, and healing for the countless women who have waited too long to be heard," said Donna Hylton, Author, CEO; A Little Piece of Light, Activist, Speaker, Survivor.

"I know firsthand how both law and culture functioned as powerful forces that silence women in the system while shielding sexual predators from accountability. As I see in my work, many women can't speak about their experiences for years after, let alone within 90 days of their abuse. They fear violence and retaliation if they were to speak up soon after. This is a human rights issue and reproductive rights issues. These women I support in my work lost their childbearing years to prison, and being sexually abused was another attack on their ability to make their own decisions about their bodies. Right now, our laws protect the perpetrator. I myself am a survivor who was able to seek justice through the Adult Survivor's Act, and I want others to be able to do the same with this bill. We need a paradigm shift for women to come forward and bills like this to allow women to come forward", said Noah Batsheva, Founder; Imani Safehouse, Advocate, and Survivor.

"As a legislator, a lawyer, and a survivor, I've seen how our legal system is stacked against those who come forward after experiencing abuse, especially when that abuse happens behind bars," said Assemblymember Catalina Cruz. "Right now, survivors in state custody are given just 90 days to report what happened to them or risk losing their right to seek justice. That's not a path to healing; it is a system designed to silence survivors. The Fair Access to Justice Act gives individuals up to three years after release to file a case, and removes unnecessarily rigid requirements like needing to name the exact dates, times, and locations of their abuse. These changes are long overdue. Justice should meet survivors where they are-not push them further into the shadows."

"We should be making it easier, not harder, for survivors of sexual assault to seek the justice they deserve. Yet the State of New York shamefully forces incarcerated and formerly incarcerated New Yorkers who were sexually abused while in custody to jump through an endless number of legal hoops.The current process for these individuals is both unfair and unjust." said Senator Julia Salazar. "It's time to pass the Fair Access to Justice Act, which would eliminate unrealistic timelines that put survivors at risk of retaliation and would get rid of obstacles that don't exist if that same assault had happened outside of prison."