Letitia James, AGs Sue DOJ Over Sex Assault Rule Change
Letitia James And 19 AGs File Suit Against DOJ Over Sex Assault Rule Change
New York Attorney General Letitia James is among the 20 attorneys general who’ve filed a lawsuit against the Department of Justice (DOJ) over a rule change denying care for sexual assault victims if they can’t prove their citizenship.
According to NBC News, the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, focuses on a new DOJ rule that goes into effect on Oct. 31, barring states from using funds provided by the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), and the Byrne Justice Assistance Grants to assist undocumented immigrants.
The lawsuit argues that the DOJ violated the Administrative Procedure Act by “failing to provide any explanation for reversing decades of policy, ignoring the reliance interests of states and service providers, and failing to consider the devastating harm to survivors.”
“Sexual assault and domestic violence survivors turn to our courts for safety and protection,” Letitia James said in a statement released by the attorneys. “They should never be turned away because of who they are or where they come from.”
James is joined by a coalition of attorney generals from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
The attorney generals’ statement pointed out that the rule is being implemented shortly after President Donald Trump appeared to downplay domestic abuse during a speech earlier this month. “If a man has a little fight with his wife, they say this was a crime,” Trump said while speaking at the Museum of the Bible. The attorney generals warned that the new DOJ rule could shut out U.S. citizens from receiving “urgently needed services.”
“People fleeing abusive households often do not physically have the legal documents needed to demonstrate immigration status,” they said in the statement. “Abusers will frequently restrict a victim’s access to important legal documents as a means of control and as a tactic to prevent them from escaping the dangerous situation.”
This new rule is absurd and unnecessarily inhumane. The attorney general’s statement does an excellent job of highlighting how the rule only empowers abusers. Unless states are going to start racially profiling, if a woman has been assaulted, but doesn’t have documents proving her citizenship, they would be obligated to deny her services under the new rule. Even if someone is undocumented, that doesn’t mean they deserve help less than anyone else, especially if they’ve been the victims of physical or sexual assault.
“With this cruel attempt to dictate which survivors deserve access to legal supports, DOJ is endangering families, silencing survivors, and threatening public safety,” Letitia James said in the statement.
The lawsuit asks the court to “immediately block DOJ’s unlawful action, preserve critical services for survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, and other violent crimes, and affirm that no victim should be denied protection because of who they are or where they were born.”
Letitia James has been an ardent opponent of President Donald Trump and his administration. She spearheaded a lawsuit that resulted in President Trump being hit with a massive civil penalty after the Trump Organization was found liable for fraud. While the civil penalty was ultimately thrown out by an appeals panel, the fraud ruling remained.
Letitia James has been so effective at holding President Trump accountable that he’s actively been pushing federal prosecutors to file mortgage fraud charges against her, despite there being little to no evidence she willingly engaged in mortgage fraud. For the sake of assault victims across the country, I hope Letitia James and the coalition of attorneys are successful in blocking this blatantly cruel rule.
SEE ALSO:
President Trump Pressures Prosecutors To Charge Letitia James
Donald Trump Doxxes New York AG Letitia James While Under Judge’s Gag Order
Letitia James And 19 AGs File Suit Against DOJ Over Sex Assault Rule Change was originally published on newsone.com
