Lawmakers to Push for DNA Testing in Rape Cases That Aren't Prosecuted
When an individual says he or she has been sexually assaulted, it’s routine today for a hospital nurse to open a rape kit and collect the suspect’s semen and other fluids from the victim’s body for DNA testing. But in Illinois (and, reportedly, other states as well) thousands of these completed rape kits have never been processed, as authorities struggle to deal with a deluge of DNA tests concerning not only sexual assaults but other serious crimes.
Commonly, rape kits have been put in storage by police departments in Illinois rather than submitted for testing when the victim recants or authorities conclude that the case, although based on a legitimate report of sexual assault, can’t successfully be prosecuted, reports the Chicago Tribune. Absent criminal charges, there seemed to be no point in collecting the evidence for a trial that would never take place.
Now that policy appears likely to change. By not testing rape kits when a crime apparently has occurred, even when the case isn’t pursued to trial or a plea, authorities lose the opportunity to identify suspects who could be linked to multiple sexual assaults and include the information on state and federal databases, the newspaper points out. Hence, the state attorney general and Illinois lawmakers are working on a bill that would establish a statewide policy requiring rape kits to be processed except when a crime apparently did not occur.
However, that would still potentially leave authorities with the challenge of figuring out how to actually process more rape kits more quickly with limited resources.
“We have to figure out how to prioritize these DNA cases in a way that balances the rights of victims with broader community safety,” suggests Shauna Boliker, criminal division chief of the Cook County state’s attorney’s office. “You have to come up with a hierarchy, like stranger rapes before acquaintance rapes.”
Related earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com (2009): “To Solve More Rape Cases, Government Needs to Test Backlog of DNA Evidence”
ABAJournal.com (2008): “When Legal System Fails Them, Some Rape Victims Go to Internet”
ABAJournal.com (2008): “New Crime-Fighting Tool: ‘Jane Doe’ Rape Kits”
