What is the “voluntary intoxication exclusion”?

June 17, 2025

A nightmare for assault victims ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

June 11, 2026

Hey there, Meteor readers,

Did you know that pangolins are on the verge of becoming endangered? Neither did I, but my daughter is very into animals right now, and we watched an episode of Wild Kratts that was all about pangolins (for the sixth time). Just as I was starting to appreciate those ugly little guys, turns out they’re on their way out the door. The Kratts did not prepare me for this.

In today’s newsletter, we learn about efforts to rewrite a shockingly harmful section of New York’s penal code. Plus, some cell phone industry news you have to read to believe.

Save the pangolins,

Shannon Melero

WHAT’S GOING ON

No cosmos for you: In January of this year, 91 New York state representatives co-sponsored and submitted Assembly Bill A101A (A101), an act that would amend New York’s penal code to eliminate what Will Rivera of the anti-sexual violence group My Own Image called an “archaic loophole” known as the Voluntary Intoxication Exclusion. If you don’t immediately know what he’s talking about, I can’t blame you. Despite my decades of watching Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, I had no idea there was a loophole that could make raping an intoxicated person legal.

But there is—right here in New York state.

According to the way the state penal code is currently written, a person who willingly got drunk is not considered mentally incapacitated and as such, raping them “does not technically constitute a crime,” Rivera says. In other words, if you choose to get drunk, it’s on you to deal with whatever happens next. Mollie Montague, the Director of State Legislative Affairs for RAINN, explains that the law protects victims “only if they were forced to consume the intoxicating substances.”

While you may be sitting there as slack-jawed as I was when I first spoke to Montague, this kind of legal framework is relatively commonplace. Consent laws vary from state to state, and some, like North Carolina, New Mexico, Oregon, and Pennsylvania, don’t define consent at all.

Cue A101, which would add updated language to the penal code to “ensure that regardless of how someone became intoxicated, they have a chance at justice,” Rivera says. “If [the bill] passes, it will be a huge step towards deterring predators.” But the legislative machine has been moving at a legless turtle’s pace.

CONSENT ADVOCATE SUMMER WILLIS SPEAKING AT A PRESS CONFERENCE IN BRYANT PARK. WHILE SHE WAS IN COLLEGE, WILLIS WAS DRUGGED AND RAPED BUT HER ASSAILANT COULD NOT BE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE BECAUSE OF A “CONSENT LOOPHOLE” IN TEXAS LAW. THAT LOOPHOLE HAS SINCE BEEN CLOSED. (PHOTO BY SELEEN SALEH)

Advocates have been working on this change to the law for three years, and it’s passed through the state senate unanimously on each attempt. It also has “a record number of bipartisan co-sponsors, survivor advocates, and a broad coalition of support,” says Rivera. It’s unclear why A101 hasn’t made it to the final step of an assembly floor vote, but it has another chance, in this year’s session—if it is scheduled for a vote by Speaker Carl Heastie tonight (like, right now). If not, it’ll be shelved until the next legislative session in 2026.

Despite the track record, both Rivera and Montague are optimistic. Texas’s Summer Willis Act, another law that closed a consent loophole and was signed into law in May, “gives us hope,” Montague says. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give Heastie’s office a call to urge him to vote on the bill now—you absolutely should.

AND:

If Donald Trump’s outbursts on Truth Social are any indication, it seems the U.S. is marching into another endless war in the Middle East. As Israel and Iran trade missile strikes, the president’s tone on the matter has become increasingly aggressive, and his pledges to “make the Middle East great again” is setting off fears about what the future of war may look like. The only thing we can say for certain is that the human cost of another ego-driven, xenophobic war will be astronomical.
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In 1972, Nina Kuscsik became the first woman to win the Boston Marathon just six years after Roberta Gibb and five years after Kathrine Switzer each had their historic “unsanctioned” runs. Kuscsik died last week at the age of 86, having proven to the world that women could run marathons—hardly a given in an era when many, including doctors, worried that women would suffer infertility and even lose their reproductive organs if they did. “I proved it over and over,” she often said. “My uterus didn’t fall out; I’m fine.”

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Boxes of hair color are about to be flying off the shelves thanks to the most important hair transformation since 1996.