By the end of 2015, more than 50 women had publicly accused comedian Bill Cosby of sexual
assault, spanning over five decades.
But only one of those incidents resulted in criminal charges.
That’s largely because for many of these crimes, the statute of limitations has long
expired.
So, what exactly is a statute of limitations?
And why do we have them on certain crimes?
Well, in the US legal system, a statute of limitations is basically a deadline for filing
a lawsuit.
When a crime occurs, a person has a certain amount of time to press charges before a case
can no longer be tried, even if there is still strong or compelling evidence.
Statute of limitations exist so that plaintiffs are compelled to bring cases or report crimes
right away.
The idea is that as time passes, evidence and eyewitness accounts begin to deteriorate
and it becomes harder to reach a just conviction.
Statutes of limitations not only promote order in the justice system, they protect defendants
who may have lost evidence that would’ve benefitted them in court.
But statutes of limitations can become problematic when crimes carry high emotional stakes.
This is because victims can wait years or even decades before coming forward.
In the Cosby case, many of his accusers claim they were sexually assaulted more than 40
years ago.
However most of those women have lost their chance to file criminal charges against Cosby,
as most states give plaintiffs less than 30 years to formalize such claims.
Just as not all crimes are treated equally, not all statutes of limitations are created
equally.
Nearly half of all US states have no statute of limitation on high level sexual assault,
like rape or when a victim is drugged.
However ten of these states do set deadlines on reporting less severe forms of the crime.
Additionally, murder is so serious in the eyes of the law, that it is one of few crimes
with no statute of limitations across the entire US.
The general rule is: the more serious the crime, the longer a plaintiff has to file
charges.
Statutes of Limitations vary not only by state, but also by the type of legal proceeding.
Criminal suits, which involve crimes prosecuted by the state, generally have longer statutes
of limitations than civil suits, which are typically disputes between two people.
Although the time limit varies by state, plaintiffs in civil suits usually have just one or two
years to file a lawsuit before their case expires.
When it comes to the accusations against Cosby, the only incident that resulted in criminal
charges happened in 2004 at Cosby’s home in Pennsylvania.
The alleged victim, Andrea Constand, brought these charges just weeks before that state’s
twelve year statute of limitations ran out.
However, had the alleged sexual assault occurred just two states over in Connecticut, her time
would have already run out.
Constand would’ve had just five years to bring charges against Cosby.
Statutes of limitations may lead to cases like Cosby’s, but overall, they work to
keep the justice system running efficiently.
If too much time has passed, it becomes nearly impossible to prove a crime has happened,
which is bad for both the victim and the defendant.
The statute of limitations is in place to uphold fair convictions, so it’s important
to report a crime as soon as it happens.
Statutes of limitations aren’t the only imperfect part of the US’s legal system,
in fact, half of Americans believe that the judicial system is corrupt.
So, just how corrupt is it?
Find out in our video.
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