On June 30, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court authored another chapter in the saga of Philadelphia native Bill Cosby. With a career spanning the better part of a century, Cosby had successful forays into music, literature film, television and comedy. In recent years, however, Cosby has been famous for all the wrong reasons. Once known as “America’s Dad,” Cosby has been accused of a crushing deluge of graphic sexual assault allegations. These claims date back to the earliest days of Cosby’s career, span multiple jurisdictions, and have been levied by dozens of women of varying backgrounds and circumstances. 

Notwithstanding their range and breadth, most of these allegations share one recurring theme: Cosby’s use of intoxicants to incapacitate his victim before the assault. As the Supreme Court noted, these similarities were described as his “unique sexual assault playbook” by the Pennsylvania Superior Court. Commonwealth v. Cosby, (Pa. 2021).