Alleged rape victim’s case shakes up JCOPE

ALBANY (NY)
Times Union

Sept. 10, 2019

By Chris Bragg

The normally staid monthly meeting of the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics on Tuesday featured a first: two women dressed in red cloaks and white bonnets stationed outside the ethics agency’s offices in downtown Albany, reading a satiric children’s book detailing the panel’s alleged failings.

The small Albany protest — with costumes inspired by Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” — was organized by Kat Sullivan, an alleged rape survivor who has been extensively targeted by JCOPE since 2018 for possible lobbying violations while advocating for passage of the Child Victim’s Act.

In Manhattan, a larger protest was held in front of a building housing the law offices of Michael K. Rozen, JCOPE’s chairman. That protest was similarly theatrical, and in both cases Sullivan sought to raise questions about why Rozen has not recused himself from her case. Sullivan in recent days even took out a billboard on I-787 posting the same question.

JCOPE staff has repeatedly declined to state whether Rozen has recused himself in its dealings with Sullivan. Rozen was not in Albany on Tuesday, but teleconferenced into the meeting from a location that was not identified in the public portion of the meeting.

In an interview, Sullivan said she was planning to now take several legal steps. With the assistance of her attorney David Grandeau, the state’s outspoken former top lobbying official, she plans to file an Article 78 proceeding targeting JCOPE.

Two women dressed as characters from The Handmaid’s Tale and supporters of Kat Sullivan, a former Emma Willard student and alleged rape victim, attend a meeting of the New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019, in Albany, N.Y. JCOPE is pursuing Sullivan for alleged violations of lobbying regulations. (Paul Buckowski/Times) Photo: Paul Buckowski, Albany Times Union / (Paul Buckowski/Times Union)
Photo: Paul Buckowski, Albany Times Union
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Two women dressed as characters from The Handmaid’s Tale and supporters of Kat Sullivan, a former Emma Willard student and alleged rape victim, attend a meeting of the New York State Joint Commission on Public … moreBuy Photo

ALBANY — The normally staid monthly meeting of the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics on Tuesday featured a first: two women dressed in red cloaks and white bonnets stationed outside the ethics agency’s offices in downtown Albany, reading a satiric children’s book detailing the panel’s alleged failings.

The small Albany protest — with costumes inspired by Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” — was organized by Kat Sullivan, an alleged rape survivor who has been extensively targeted by JCOPE since 2018 for possible lobbying violations while advocating for passage of the Child Victim’s Act.

In Manhattan, a larger protest was held in front of a building housing the law offices of Michael K. Rozen, JCOPE’s chairman. That protest was similarly theatrical, and in both cases Sullivan sought to raise questions about why Rozen has not recused himself from her case. Sullivan in recent days even took out a billboard on I-787 posting the same question.

JCOPE staff has repeatedly declined to state whether Rozen has recused himself in its dealings with Sullivan. Rozen was not in Albany on Tuesday, but teleconferenced into the meeting from a location that was not identified in the public portion of the meeting.

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