Name: Seth Young
Phone #: 520-367-7206
Email: [email protected]
Address: 600 N 4th Street, Apt. 212 Phoenix, AZ 85004

My name is Seth Young and I am a second year law student at ASU Law. I completely support the proposed amendment to rule 412. First, such an amendment would bring the Arizona Rules of Evidence in closer conformity with the Federal Rules of Evidence. This result aligns with one of the goals of the Arizona Rules of Evidence. Second, this amendment promotes protection of victims who bring civil claims for sexual misconduct. Victim's often struggle to come forward. Societal shame, embarrassment, and general stigma contribute to this hesitation of victims to seek civil redress. This amendment would held victims overcome this potential hesitation to file suit by keeping their irrelevant sexual history and sexually adjacent statements/actions out of the case. Accordingly, 412 will help create a greater incentive for victims to come forward and seek remedy at law. Thus, the proposed amendment for 412 should be adopted because it brings Arizona Rules of Evidence in closer conformity with the Federal Rules of Evidence and increases the likelihood that victims of sexual misconduct feel comfortable bringing civil suits against the perpetrators.

Brooke Norton
1616 N. Central Ave. Phoenix, AZ 85004
909-875-1382
[email protected]

My name is Brooke Norton, and I am a second-year law student at ASU Law. I am writing to support the proposed amendment to rule 412. This amendment brings the Arizona Rules of Evidence closer to the Federal Rules. It also protects victims, which is a major goal of the Rules. Victims who bring claims for sexual misconduct face a difficult burden. This amendment assures that irrelevant sexual history is kept out of the case. This helps victims come forward and overall contributes to justice in Arizona.

Brock Meyer
400 N 2nd Ave, Apt 274
Phoenix, AZ 85003
949-584-8313
[email protected]

My name is Brock Meyer, and I am a second-year law student attending ASU Law. I fully support the proposed amendment to Rule 412. As it stands, victims of rape face widespread and significant obstacles in pursuing any rape claim, be it criminal or civil. They must overcome deriding social stigma when they self-report, ostracization from their social groups or family, and often a societally-induced sense of guilt for their own attack. These are just some of the obstacles they must face prior to entering a courtroom. The criminal rape shield serves to enable and empower victims to pursue criminal claims without the fear of unfairly prejudicial sexual history or behavior being turned against them. It is an important step in helping eliminate obstacles for victims when they approach the justice system for exactly that—justice.
Embracing solely a criminal rape shield, however, is not enough. These same obstacles are present within a civil case, and the Arizona Rules of Evidence should thus properly reflect the same shield in the civil realm as well. By doing so, the amendment aligns the Arizona Rules of Evidence more closely to the Federal Rules of Evidence. I support the adoption of this amendment to Rule 412 because it protects victims of rape by empowering them to pursue their legal claims regardless of a criminal or civil nature, it assists in eliminating barriers to that endeavor, it better aligns Arizona's Rules with their Federal counterpart, and it promotes the pursuit of justice in this state.