On July 3rd, 2025, the Supreme Court of Kings County, New York, issued a landmark judgment in Kupferstein v. Kupferstein, awarding $250,000 in compensatory damages to Dr. Henny Kupferstein. The court held her ex-husband, Avigdor Kupferstein, Rabbi Yecheskel Akiva Gross, and Congregation Kehilas Belz USA jointly and severally liable for 14 years of marital rape, sexual assault, and systemic abuse—marking the first civil judgment of its kind against a Chassidic institution for enabling and covering up spousal rape.

Case Background

• Plaintiff: Dr. Henny Kupferstein, autistic scholar and advocate, was shunned and excommunicated by the Chassidic Belz community after reporting abuse to secular authorities.
  
• Defendants: Ex-husband Avigdor Kupferstein; Rabbi Yecheskel Akiva Gross; Congregation Kehilas Belz USA.
  
• Allegations: Serial sexual assault, rape, and abuse from age 18 over 14 years, orchestrated and enforced through religious authority and communal pressure. After Dr. Kupferstein reported the abuse to authorities, the congregation and its rabbis organized a multi-pronged custody battle to punish her, acting on explicit threats to retaliate if she took the facts outside the community.
  
• Legal Basis: Action brought under New York’s Adult Survivors Act (ASA), which temporarily revives time-barred civil claims for adult survivors of sexual abuse.
  

Significance and Precedent

• Institutional Accountability: The judgment is the first to hold a Chassidic synagogue and rabbinic leadership civilly liable for enabling, directing, and covering up sexual violence within marriage, establishing that religious institutions are not above the law.
  
• Deterrence and Reform: This precedent exposes how forced religious marriages and trafficking for “wifely duties” inflict lifelong harm, and demonstrates that justice is enforceable even against powerful religious systems.
  
• Systemic Issues Highlighted: The case documents patterns of institutional obstruction—witness intimidation, retaliation, and evidence suppression—common in insular religious communities, and underscores the urgent need for legal reforms to explicitly criminalize these practices at the federal level.
  

Policy Implications and Legislative Opportunities

The Kupferstein case highlights critical gaps in federal law:

• Lack of explicit penalties for religious institutional obstruction of justice.
  
• Insufficient protection against retaliation and intimidation of survivors.
  
• Statutes of limitations that prevent survivors from seeking justice when institutions delay or suppress disclosure.
  

To overcome statutes of limitations and address systemic obstruction of justice in religious communities like Chassidic groups, survivors need legal reforms that explicitly criminalize institutional cover-ups, witness intimidation, and retaliation. Below are key amendments and legal strategies based on existing frameworks:

1. Amend Federal Obstruction Laws to Cover Religious Institutional Conduct

• Expand 18 U.S.C. § 1512 (Witness Tampering):
  • Add a subsection defining “religious institutional obstruction” as:

Knowingly using religious authority, doctrine, or community pressure to prevent reporting of crimes, destroy evidence, or retaliate against survivors.

• Penalties: Enhance sentencing for leaders who orchestrate cover-ups (e.g., 10–20 years).
• Revise 18 U.S.C. § 3 (Accessory After the Fact):
  • Explicitly apply to religious entities that conceal abuse, with liability for institutions failing to report crimes.

2. Create a Federal Cause of Action for Survivor Retaliation

• Model after California’s AB 933 (2023):
  • Make it a federal civil rights violation to:
    • Threaten, harass, or sue survivors for disclosing abuse.
    • Use religious doctrine (e.g., mesirah) to justify intimidation.
  • Allow survivors to seek triple damages + attorney fees.

3. Override State Statutes of Limitations

• Federal “Revival Window” Legislation:
  • Create a 2-year federal window to revive time-barred claims against institutions covering up abuse, modeled on New York’s Adult Survivors Act.
  • Apply retroactively to cases where obstruction occurred.

4. Criminalize Custody-Based Retaliation

• Amend Family Court Standards (42 U.S.C. § 1983):
  • Prohibit courts from awarding custody to abusers when:
    • A parent reports child abuse.
    • Evidence shows institutional pressure to silence reports.
  • Require mandatory investigation of abuse claims before custody rulings.

5. Define “Religious Obstruction” in Penal Codes

• Add to 18 U.S.C. § 247 (Damage to Religious Property):
  • Include “spiritual coercion” as obstruction:

Using religious authority to manipulate, threaten, or isolate survivors to prevent legal action.

• Penalize community-wide shunning or economic blacklisting.

6. Strengthen Whistleblower Protections

• Amend 18 U.S.C. § 1513 (Retaliation Against Witnesses):
  • Cover internal whistleblowers (e.g., community members reporting abuse to secular authorities).
  • Impose liability on leaders who enable retaliation.

Evidence Needed to Prove Obstruction

Survivors must document:

• Institutional directives (e.g., rabbinical rulings forbidding police reports).
• Patterns of retaliation (e.g., custody threats, expulsion from schools/synagogues).
• Destruction of evidence (e.g., mishandled internal investigations).

Summary: Proposed Amendments

Law	Key Amendment	Purpose
18 U.S.C. § 1512	Define “religious institutional obstruction” with enhanced penalties	Criminalize systemic cover-ups
Federal AB 933 Equivalent	Triple damages for retaliatory lawsuits/threats	Deter intimidation of survivors
Revival Window Statute	2-year federal window for time-barred cases	Overcome statutes of limitations
Family Court Reform	Ban custody awards to abusers when abuse is reported	Stop weaponizing custody
18 U.S.C. § 247	Include “spiritual coercion” as obstruction	Address religious-specific tactics

Implementation Strategy

1. Federal Legislation: Introduce a Religious Institutional Accountability Act combining these amendments.
2. DOJ Task Force: Create a unit to prosecute obstruction in religious abuse cases.
3. Survivor Access: Fund legal clinics in enclaves like Brooklyn to help document obstruction.

These amendments would explicitly criminalize religious institutional obstruction, closing loopholes that enable cover-ups. By penalizing spiritual coercion, evidence suppression, and retaliation, they align federal law with the reality of abuse in insular religious communities. For legislative language, see 18 U.S.C. Chapter 73 and §247.

Why Interview Dr. Kupferstein?

• Firsthand Expertise: As both plaintiff and researcher, Dr. Kupferstein offers unique insight into the intersection of religious authority, gendered violence, and legal reform.
  
• Advocacy for Change: She is actively working to close legal loopholes that allow religious institutions to evade accountability, and can speak to the urgent need for survivor-centered policy.
  
• Impact for Survivors Nationwide: This case is a catalyst for national conversation on protecting survivors in high-demand groups and ensuring no institution is above the law.
  

Contact for Interviews:
Dr. Henny Kupferstein, Plaintiff
henny@hennyk.com 

Supporting Documents:

• Verified Complaint and Judgment (Kings County Index No. 534449/2023)
  
• Policy Brief: Federal Amendments Needed to Address Religious Institutional Obstruction
  

This verdict paves the way for survivors everywhere to seek justice—regardless of the power or influence of their abusers or the institutions that enabled them.