---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL PROCEDURE -- TRIALS (Restricts the use of a victim's gender or sexual orientation as a defense by any defendant claiming provocation, diminished capacity or self-defense and prohibits the court from allowing such information into evidence.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL PROCEDURE -- TRIALS (Restricts the use of a victim's gender or sexual orientation as a defense by any defendant claiming provocation, diminished capacity or self-defense and prohibits the court from allowing such information into evidence.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2018"
identifier: "HB 7066"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 7066 (2018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Courts", "Criminal Procedure", "Sexual Assault"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bennett", "Blazejewski", "Costantino", "Marshall", "Mendonca"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 14
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2018-01-03"
last_action: "2018-07-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/fa811e51-b5df-4fcb-8cab-921362216074"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "6e89a1f44f981567d4fabc4eb99233a9833309d85aa616f06a7b73a1ffc2aa83"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ri"]
---

# Rhode Island HB 7066 (2018) — AN ACT RELATING TO CRIMINAL PROCEDURE -- TRIALS (Restricts the use of a victim's gender or sexual orientation as a defense by any defendant claiming provocation, diminished capacity or self-defense and prohibits the court from allowing such information into evidence.)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **7066 as amended** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText18/HouseText18/H7066aa.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE OF AMENDMENT — **71–0** (pass) · lower
- AS AMENDED — **68–2** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bennett — primary (person)
- Blazejewski — primary (person)
- Costantino — primary (person)
- Marshall — primary (person)
- Mendonca — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2018-01-03** 01/03/2018 Introduced, referred to House Judiciary `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2018-01-26** 01/26/2018 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (01/30/2018)
- **2018-01-30** 01/30/2018 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2018-05-04** 05/04/2018 Scheduled for consideration (05/09/2018)
- **2018-05-09** 05/09/2018 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-05-18** 05/18/2018 Placed on House Calendar (05/22/2018)
- **2018-05-22** 05/22/2018 House passed as amended (floor amendment) `passage`
- **2018-05-31** 05/31/2018 Referred to Senate Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2018-06-22** 06/22/2018 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (06/22/2018)
- **2018-06-22** 06/22/2018 Committee recommends passage as amended in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-06-23** 06/23/2018 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/23/2018)
- **2018-06-23** 06/23/2018 Senate passed as amended in concurrence `passage`
- **2018-07-02** 07/02/2018 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2018-07-02** 07/02/2018 Signed by Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/fa811e51-b5df-4fcb-8cab-921362216074`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).