NASHVILLE, Tenn. – At last count, more than 9,000 rape kits sat on shelves in storage across Tennessee, but that number could be even higher.
The state Comptroller's Office is recommending that lawmakers ask for an update on the status of processing the kits – at the same time that a national campaign is releasing a series of public service announcements to underscore the importance of crime labs catching up on the problem.
Ilse Knecht, policy and advocacy director for the Joyful Heart Foundation, says Tennessee has some work to do.
"They've been testing them, but we don't really know what it looks like right now, and I think there needs to be another, some kind of audit or inventory to see, you know, have people been sending their old kits?” she stresses. “Are they sending their new kits? Are they complying with the law?"
Last year Tennessee legislators introduced a bill to shorten the deadlines for submission of newly collected rape kits, but the bill did not pass.
Currently, according to the Joyful Heart Foundation, Memphis' crime lab has a 32-week turnaround time for testing rape kits, Knoxville's is 10 weeks and Nashville has a 16-week wait.
The PSA released by Joyful Heart is titled "Shelved" and features a rape survivor being transported to a tall shelf in a warehouse, filled with hundreds of other survivors waiting on their kits to be tested.
"The man that raped me was white, about 5'8", probably about 170 pounds, crooked nose, sandy blond hair,” the survivor relates. “All of those details, plus the DNA, is enough evidence for you to catch him, right? Right?"
Knecht says while resolution of rape cases is a need for survivors of assault – processing them is also resulting in the solving of hundreds of other crimes, and the prevention of untold more.
"They commit all kinds of crimes,” she points out. “When you look at the rap sheets, it's domestic violence, it's homicide, it's robbery, burglary, assault.
“These guys are one-man wrecking crews on society. The public should be very concerned that these aren't being tested because it's such a great tool to take really dangerous people off the street."
Actress Mariska Hargitay created the Joyful Heart Foundation after playing a detective on the TV series "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit."
She says the content of the scripts and letters she received from fans of the show prompted her to take action.
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South Dakota is creating an Office of Indigent Legal Services after House Bill 1057 passed the Legislature with nearly unanimous support this month.
The U.S. Constitution gives all people accused of a crime the right to a lawyer. South Dakota is one of only two states where counties, not the state, have been responsible for providing public defenders for those who cannot afford to pay.
Neil Fulton, dean of the Knudson School of Law at the University of South Dakota and co-chair of the Indigent Legal Services Task Force, said costs added up for counties, and noted there are added challenges for people in rural counties seeking attorneys.
"The biggest challenge is just availability," Fulton observed. "And the geographic reach from where the lawyer is to where the client is."
Fulton predicted the bill will improve the quality of public defense. He hopes to see the new state office taking cases by the end of this year, following the creation of a Commission on Indigent Legal Services and hiring and training attorneys.
It is still undecided how the program will be funded long-term. Indigent defendants are expected to pay back the costs of their legal services.
Samantha Chapman, advocacy manager for the American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota, urged changes to the practice.
"We hope that there'll be future policy reform bills changing the way that the state is recouping the costs from those indigent defendants, many of which will never be able to pay off their debt," Chapman stressed.
The changes to the system are projected to cost the state $1.4 million annually, and save counties more than $1.5 million.
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A man from Dothan, Alabama, serving a life sentence for selling drugs received a presidential pardon, which sparked discussions about long sentences for marijuana-related offenses.
As President Joe Biden granted forgiveness to Earlie Deacon Barber, advocates for changing the current drug laws emphasized the need for broader reforms for marijuana-related charges.
Paul Armentano, deputy director of the advocacy group NORML, highlighted the significance of presidential pardons in the overall debate.
"It's an acknowledgment from the most powerful person in the land that we have moved on from these offenses," Armentano asserted. "We're forgiving these people for these offenses, and that this record should not be holding them back from future opportunities."
Barber's life sentence is set to expire April 20. Armentano pointed out a pardon still does not eliminate the challenges faced by people with criminal records in getting jobs and housing. Multiple states have changed their cannabis possession laws and state courts have expunged or sealed the records in more than 2 million marijuana-related cases.
Randall Woodfin, mayor of Birmingham, has pardoned more than 23,000 people with charges dating back to 1990. And he has appealed for stronger federal protections, such as changing the legal classification of cannabis to allow for greater access or fewer restrictions on its use.
Armentano agreed more could be done at the federal level to address the stigma and challenges.
"Because it's Congress that enacted marijuana prohibition, and at the end of the day, it needs to be Congress that has to enact policy to end marijuana prohibition at the federal level," Armentano urged.
He noted NORML advocate Chris Goldstein, a pardon recipient, recently discussed federal cannabis policies with Vice President Kamala Harris.
At present, 24 states allow nonmedical adult use of cannabis, but they are still at odds with federal law, which considers marijuana use illegal.
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Women are treated much differently than men by the criminal justice system, according to a new report detailing how and why mass incarceration is harmful to women in the U.S.
The report said nationwide, more than 190,000 women are behind bars, with the vast majority serving time in local jails.
Mike Wessler, communications director for the Prison Policy Initiative, said it includes about 29,000 women in Mississippi. He argued the system is particularly harsh toward women. One major challenge is receiving sufficient medical care.
"Women are frequently overdosed behind bars; they may have consumed drugs or alcohol at high level before they came to jail," Wessler noted. "And when they're there, the jails don't have the capacity to treat them. So, they often overdose or they detox without any assistance, and it costs them their lives."
Wessler pointed out about 82% of women who are entangled in the legal system are on probation or parole. The other 18% are in jail or prison. The Magnolia State has one of the higher incarceration rates, with more than 1,000 people per 100,000 residents behind bars.
Wessler emphasized around 58% of women who are incarcerated have minor children. Their families often cannot afford cash bail, which is one reason they are trapped in the legal system. Worse yet, he added, the women are typically the primary caregivers for their kids, which may cause their parental rights to be at risk.
"If you can't afford that, you're going to sit in jail until trial, and that can be months and months at a time, in which time you're likely to lose your job, lose your housing, lose custody of your children," Wessler outlined. "Women who are incarcerated don't make enough money to often pay that bail. The average bail in this country is about one year's salary for an incarcerated woman."
The report also echoed concerns about the stark racial disparities in locking people up. It said in Mississippi, white people are incarcerated at a rate of 386 per 100,000 residents. For Black people, the rate is 960.
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