WEST SAYVILLE, N.Y. — A recently formed organization that contends there is a nationwide backlog of untested rape kits told The Associated Press...
Diane Dimond | Posted 10.09.2011
There are nearly 200,000 DNA rape kits sitting -- ignored and forgotten -- in law enforcement storage areas across this country. Can you think of any other crime where police have definitive evidence and fail to process it?
Alanna Zabel | Posted 11.17.2011
Having a compassionate witness is crucial in the processing and release of the victim's pain, and it is extremely difficult to heal without this witness.
Neal Baer | Posted 05.25.2011
By failing to test these rape kits, we are telling victims that pursuing justice doesn't matter, that convicting violent perpetrators and taking them off our streets is not a top priority.
Chicago Sun-Times | Posted 05.25.2011
A convicted felon eligible for release next week may spend more time behind bars after a mold-covered criminal sexual assault kit from four years ago ...
Lindsey Horvath | Posted 05.25.2011
The City of Los Angeles can still make meet its pledge to eliminate its sexual violence evidence kit backlog by this June if it takes smart, aggressive action to keep DNA testing on track.
Sarah Tofte | Posted 05.25.2011
In a stunning reversal, city officials announced last week that they had decided behind closed doors that they would not hire new crime lab staff to test every rape kit.
Huffington Post Investigative Fund, Pro Publica | Ben Protess and Emily Witt | Posted 05.25.2011
By Ben Protess, Huffington Post Investigative Fund, and Emily Witt, ProPublica When a woman is raped, police turn to scientific evidence-semen, blo...
Sarah Tofte | Posted 05.25.2011
Two weeks ago, the L.A County Sheriff's Department announced that in May, it stopped testing rape kits indefinitely because of a lack of funds. The backlog: 12,500 untested cases.
Joe Cutbirth | Posted 06.01.2011
It's a sad day when state lawmakers, the attorney general, city leaders or the police act as if a forensic exam even vaguely resembles a victim service or compensation to a woman who has been raped.
Sarah Tofte | Posted 05.25.2011
Receiving a bill in the mail for basic police work represents an unacceptable but still too common truth - that the criminal justice system has a lot to learn about how it deals with rape victims.
Joe Cutbirth | Posted 05.25.2011
On a rare occasion, journalists shine a light on a public policy that is so disgusting it literally stuns you -- it just takes your breath away and leaves you speechless.
Maria Hinojosa | Posted 05.25.2011
There is an underreported backlog in the processing of rape kits which is delaying and sometimes denying justice for tens of thousands of American women.
Shannyn Moore | Posted 05.25.2011
Can you imagine having to pay for the CSI if your home was robbed? What if a bill came for the breathalyzer tests if you'd been hit by a drunk driver?
Heather Tirado Gilligan and Nikki Jones | Posted 05.25.2011
Sexual assault prevention and the treatment of victims is not a divisive partisan issue. The Republican party is putting forward two candidates profoundly out of sync with most Americans and the vast majority of legislators.
AP | FRANK ELTMAN | Posted 11.19.2011