A woman who claims she was sexually assaulted by singer James Brown has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review whether the two-year statute of limitations on personal injury suits in Illinois discriminates against rape victims.

“[T]he facially neutral Illinois statute of limitations for personal injuries has a disparate impact on rape victims and upon females by not recognizing a unique standard for gender-based violence,” Jacque Hollander argues in a petition for review that is her final hope of proceeding with her assault suit against Brown.

A unique standard is required, she says, because “The psychological and physiological affects [sic] of rape differ immensely from any other wrongful act ... They dehumanize the victim and create coping mechanisms that often inhibit the injured party from filing even criminal, much less civil action.”

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, relying on Illinois precedent, ruled in August that Hollander waited too long to allege Brown had raped her in 1988. She filed suit in 2005 for $106 million in damages after doctors told her that the alleged assault had caused her to develop a thyroid condition.

The discovery rule did not toll the two-year statute of limitations, the opinion said, because Hollander “knew she had suffered at least some injuries at the time of the incident in 1988.” Under the Illinois precedent, a victim of a “sudden, traumatic event” is presumed to have been placed “on notice of her injury and a right of action.”

But Hollander attorney Donald Rosen of Carpentersville, Ill., contends the Illinois Supreme Court has failed to “recognize the nuances of sexual assault as distinct from other intentional or unintentional wrongful acts that can create personal injuries,” and

Since females are more likely to be the victims of gender-motivated violence, strict enforcement of sexual assault as indistinguishable from other personal injuries under the two-year statute of limitations adversely affects females disproportionately to males.

The chances of being granted Supreme Court review are, of course, slim. But Hollander has raised issues that were acknowledged by the Illinois legislature in 2003 when it enacted a law giving victims of gender-related violence seven years in which to file suit.