Survivors and Lawmakers Call on Assembly to Pass Urgent Fix to Adult Survivors Act and Child Victims Act

ALBANY, NY (06/02/2026) (readMedia)-- On Tuesday, a coalition of survivors, advocates, and lawmakers rallied in Albany for a critical bill, A8635B/S9848 (Rosenthal/Salazar), that will allow survivors who sought justice under the Adult Survivors Act (ASA) or Child Victims Act (CVA) to have their day in court. The Senate passed the bill in May for the second year in a row, and the coalition is urging the Assembly to do the same before session ends.

Speakers included Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, prime bill sponsor; Assemblymember Catalina Cruz; Donna Hylton, author, CEO of A Little Piece of Light, activist, speaker, and survivor; Noah Batsheva, founder of Imani Safehouse, advocate, and survivor; and Michael Polenberg, vice president of government affairs at Safe Horizon.

Survivors suing the State or municipalities face stricter Court of Claims pleading requirements, including providing details about the time, place, and damages of their abuse-requirements that do not apply to cases against private individuals or entities. After a March 2025 Court of Appeals decision upheld those heightened standards, nearly 1,500 ASA cases and 300 CVA cases were put at risk of dismissal. The State has already succeeded in dismissing some of them. A8635B/S9848 would equalize the pleading requirements for suing public and private individuals or entities, apply retroactively to pending CVA and ASA cases in the Court of Claims, and eliminate these heightened requirements for future filings upon enactment. Requiring this level of specificity in these cases presents an unfair and unrealistic burden on survivors given that trauma can severely impair memory. Further, many formerly incarcerated survivors report a lack of access to clocks and calendars and face retaliation for keeping notes about their abuse.

The bill would preserve access to justice that survivors deserve, consistent with a bill the Legislature already enacted last session for incarcerated survivors of abuse as part of the 2025 prison reform package.

"Abuse within the prison system is rampant and each opportunity we have to increase accountability is one we should take seriously and swiftly. This legislation will allow formerly incarcerated victims of sexual abuse in prison, who filed an ASA case, to provide the same specificity requirements as victims who sued a private entity. Without such changes, too many instances of abuse will disappear without public scrutiny, and victims will not be compensated for the harm that was done to them. Last year, my family worked with other victims to ensure a more just system, and in doing so, we corrected this standard going forward. We now need to ensure victims who filed under the ASA-primarily women of color-have the same rights as everyone else," said Robert Brooks Jr., prison reform advocate and son of Robert Brooks, who was beaten to death by corrections officers at Marcy Correctional Facility in 2024.

"I was abused by a Correctional Sergeant at Albion Correctional Facility and suffered a miscarriage. As a result of that abuse, I cannot have children. The Adult Survivors Act has given me, and so many other women, the ability to seek justice for what was done to us. The idea that our cases could be dismissed based on an inability to accurately recall some small detail about the abuse we suffered means that we will be denied the justice we were promised. On behalf of all survivors, I am thankful to the State Senators who passed this bill, and now the Assembly must do the same," said Nikiea Hawkins.

"I'm here representing women who have been abused, dismissed, devalued, and denied their basic rights and humanity. For too long, our voices have been silenced and our access to justice has been denied. 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 Chaplain Dr. Donna Hylton, author, founder/CEO of A Little Piece of Light, activist, speaker, and survivor.

"I know firsthand how both law and culture function as powerful forces that silence women in the system while shielding sexual predators from accountability. As I see in my work, many women fear violence and retaliation for reporting their abuse, and have difficulty remembering specific details of horrific, traumatic events. 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. The Senate took a huge step forward in shifting this paradigm. I myself am a survivor who was able to seek justice through the Adult Survivor's Act, and all survivors deserve a path to justice. Albany must get this bill done before session ends," said Noah Batsheva, MSW, founder of Imani Safehouse, advocate, and survivor.

"The Adult Survivors Act and the Child Victims Act, which I was proud to sponsor in the Assembly, provided thousands of sexual abuse survivors with a long-awaited opportunity to seek justice through the courts," said Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal (D/WF - Manhattan). "Yet, those whose claims are brought against state agencies or municipalities, must now reach an impossibly high bar by providing details as to exactly when and where their abuse took place, all before their case can even be heard in court. These are details that many survivors have spent years, or even decades, trying to forget. If we do not pass my legislation to bypass the pleading requirements and allow these cases to proceed, more than 1,800 survivors could once again be shut out of their shot at justice."

"Because of the Child Victims Act and Adult Survivors Act, thousands of survivors have come forward and filed cases against their abusers, an opportunity they otherwise would not have had. However, the intent of these laws is undermined when we dismiss cases simply because the victim did not write down the exact time of the day they were abused, which can often be decades ago. By passing S.9848, we are removing unnecessary red tape that is preventing New Yorkers from seeking the justice they deserve. Now the Assembly must get the bill over the finish line," said prime bill sponsor State Senator Julia Salazar.

"The Senate did the right thing in advancing these bills today. No survivor should be denied justice because of unfair legal standards that ignore the realities of trauma, especially for those abused as children or while incarcerated, and no survivor should have to face reputational attacks that redirect blame onto them when seeking justice. The Senate did its job, and now the Assembly must act. Survivors can't wait," said Emily Miles, Executive Director of the NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault.

Michael Polenberg, VP of Government Affairs, Safe Horizon, said: "When the legislature passed the Child Victims Act and the Adult Survivors Act to enable thousands of survivors of sexual abuse across New York State to seek justice in our courts, the legislative intent was crystal clear: to allow survivors the opportunity to hold their abusers accountable no matter if they were members of the clergy, powerful Hollywood producers or governmental entities. These are the laws that survivors fought for, that legislators passed, and that Governors signed into law. It is therefore appalling that sexual assault survivors seeking to sue government agencies have been repeatedly turned away by the Court of Claims. The State Assembly must follow the lead from the State Senate in immediately passing legislation designed to remedy this injustice and make good on the promise of the CVA & ASA. Safe Horizon demands that Speaker Carl Heastie bring A.8635 to the floor before the end of session."

"We know that trauma impacts memory, and survivors should not lose their opportunity for justice because they cannot recall an exact date, time, or detail from one of the worst experiences of their lives. The Child Victims Act and Adult Survivors Act were created to give survivors a path to justice, and that promise should not be weakened by procedural barriers that fail to reflect the realities of abuse and trauma. I applaud the Senate for passing these important bills and recognizing the need for a more fair and compassionate approach for survivors. I urge the Assembly to do the same and ensure that survivors continue to have meaningful access to justice," said Theresa Roth, Executive Director, New York State Children's Alliance, Inc.

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