New California law enhances punishment for spousal rape, ends legal distinction

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law Thursday that eliminates the legal distinction between “spousal rape” and rape and enforces punishment for the crime in the state’s penal code.

Current law distinguishes rape from spousal rape, which means the two definitions can carry varying penalties. Assembly Bill 1171 repeals that difference by including spousal rape in the broader definition of rape, and would make someone convicted of the crime subject to mandatory imprisonment and the sex offender registry list.

Spousal rape was always a crime in California, but advocates for the measure said the new law modernizes an antiquated statute by eliminating some of the distinctions.

“From the beginning of our efforts, we have been clear that rape is rape,” bill author and Bell Gardens Democrat Cristina Garcia said in a statement. “And a marriage license is not an excuse for committing one of society’s most violent and sadistic crimes. AB 1171 will mandate adherence to a law that will protect vulnerable spouses in a union.”

Both rape and spousal rape previously could land a perpetrator in prison for the same number of years. But those convicted of spousal rape have the chance to “plea bargain their sentence” for probation instead, according to an AB 1171 analysis. AB 1171 also mandates those found guilty of spousal rape register as a sex offender, eliminating a discretionary provision of the penal code.

According to a 2018 National Coalition Against Domestic Violence post, between 14% and 25% of women experience sexual assault by an intimate partner in their life. That number increases to between 40% and 45% for women in abusive relationships. Up to 14% of married women will experience marital rape.

AB 1171 passed both the Senate and Assembly with overwhelming bipartisan support. Many district attorneys offices throughout California and sexual assault advocacy organizations also supported the measure.

“This bill will ensure that our laws protect all victims of sexual abuse and that rape committed against a spouse is treated just as seriously under the law as rape against any other victim,” San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin said in a statement when the bill was passed in the Legislature on Sept. 8.

The California Public Defenders Association registered in opposition for the bill, saying it is “bad public policy because it takes discretion away from judges and it imposes a one size fits all sentence on individuals in the criminal justice system.”

The association also raised concerns that the new law would have economic consequences on families and that “requiring mandatory sex offender registration may preclude the individual from having future contact with either their children with the victim spouse or their children from a different union.”