Three victims of sexual assault are suing the City of Austin and Travis County, claiming they've violated the constitutional rights of female survivors.
Julie Ann Nitsch, Marina Conner and Amy Smith, who is using a pseudonym, are demanding the city and county change the way they handle sexual assault cases and treat victims during the process.
Nitsch and Conner held a news conference with their lawyers Tuesday to announce the federal class action lawsuit. It was filed against the City of Austin, police chief Brian Manley and former chief Art Acevedo, as well as Travis County; its district attorney, Margaret Moore; former district attorney Rosemary Lehmberg; and Sheriff Sally Hernandez.
'For years, female victims of sexual assault in Austin and Travis County have been denied equal access to justice and equal protection of law,' the lawsuit says. 'In short, the women of Travis County have been failed by the people sworn to protect them — the government officials and actors who have instead disbelieved, dismissed and denigrated female victims of sexual assault, failed to have DNA evidence tested for years at a time, and refused to investigate or prosecute cases of sexual assault against female survivors because juries purportedly do not like ‘he said, she said’ cases.'
The lawsuit claims that the city and county officials promote a culture of not believing or ignoring female rape victims and that their practices are unconstitutional and discriminatory."
