Sarah Palin: Objectively pro-sexual assault
Op-Edna finds that during Sarah Palin’s two terms as mayor, the town of Wasilla charged victims of sexual assault the cost of their rape kits:
ANCHORAGE – Gov. Tony Knowles recently signed legislation protecting victims of sexual assault from being billed for tests to collect evidence of the crime, but one local police chief said the new law will further burden taxpayers.
The governor signed House Bill 270, sponsored by Rep. Eric Croft, D-Anchorage, outside the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) exam room at Alaska Regional Hospital. In attendance at the signing were members of victims advocate groups, law enforcement agencies and legislators. [...]
While the Alaska State Troopers and most municipal police agencies have covered the cost of exams, which cost between $300 to $1,200 apiece, the Wasilla police department does charge the victims of sexual assault for the tests.
Wasilla Police Chief Charlie Fannon does not agree with the new legislation, saying the law will require the city and communities to come up with more funds to cover the costs of the forensic exams.
In the past weve charged the cost of exams to the victims insurance company when possible. I just dont want to see any more burden put on the taxpayer, Fannon said.
According to Fannon, the new law will cost the Wasilla Police Department approximately $5,000 to $14,000 a year to collect evidence for sexual assault cases.
This is, to say the least, pretty fucking despicable. Both for the reasons you’d expect – it’s cruel, emblematic of the negative treatment survivors of sexual assault often receive – and for somewhat more systemic reasons: sexual assault is chronically underreported as it is, and requiring victims to pay the cost of their own rape kit incentivizes staying quiet over reporting the assault. So yeah, fuck you Sarah Palin for not having the decency to lift this ridiculous burden on survivors of sexual assault. Especially when you were more than willing to sink a few million dollars (and leave your town debt-ridden) into building an ill-thought “athletic center.”
cross-posted from Feministe
How likely do you think it is that this will hit the MSM?
HAve you seen the actual stats of crime in Wasilla:
http://safety.fizber.com/Alaska/Wasilla/
Is Daily Kos going to produce any woman who paid out of pocket for her rape kit?
This is why people like me think that the social conservatives need — desperately — to get away from fiscal conservatives.
Those people are scary.
The idea that we might charge victims for the price of collecting evidence of a crime, just to keep the burden off the taxpayer, is beyond immoral.
Your concern about the underreporting of crime is valid, but let’s move on to the poor … are they simply not entitled to legal protection?
It seems like basic legal protection and investigation of crimes against a person should outweigh efforts to keep taxes low.
You’ve won me over. The more I look a Gov. Palin, the more I’m convinced that she is pretty far out there.
Hate to spoil the fun, but FBI crime stats and the city of Wasilla stats show zero rapes reported to the city of Wasilla from 1995 to the time the new state law was passed.
This policy to bill insurance companies is not incommon across the country, so the Republicans in 2005 passed a new federal law to force the states to pay for these kits starting in 2009. By the way, guess what state is still charging for rape kits… Illinois.
All the documentation is right here: http://iusbvision.wordpress.com/2008/09/12/latest-palin-smear-palin-charged-rape-victims-for-rape-kits-but-when-the-truth-gets-out-the-elite-media-and-the-democrats-will-have-egg-on-their-face-again/
“Hate to spoil the fun, but FBI crime stats and the city of Wasilla stats show zero rapes reported to the city of Wasilla from 1995 to the time the new state law was passed.” Check the Wasilla City budget. It was spending $10,000 plus a year for forensic kits for the rapes you say didn’t happen. Nice try, but the statistics were likely being reported to the FBI under something other than Wasilla until 1995.
“This policy to bill insurance companies is not incommon across the country, so the Republicans in 2005 passed a new federal law to force the states to pay for these kits starting in 2009. By the way, guess what state is still charging for rape kits… Illinois. ” True, some other jurisdictions had been charging for rape kits, which is why JOE BIDEN cosponsored the Violence Against Women’s Act to put an end to the loathsome practice. Despite having voted for an earlier version of the Act, guess who voted against the final version and in 2007 voted not to fund the act. JOHN MCCAIN!!!!
And who cosponsored the Illinois Crime Victim’s Compensation Act, a act that, amongst other things, reimbursed victims for the cost of rape kits. BARACK OBAMA!!!
http://opedna.com/2008/09/09/important-updates-to-wasilla-police-billed-sexual-assault-victims-for-their-own-rape-kits/
Hate to spoil the fun, but I have that Bill on my site in that very post – you didnt read the bill did you.
If you have low enough income, if you dont have insurance, if you jump through their hoops, you can apply for reinbursement. Than the perp has to be found guilty or it can come back on you.
Also the Bill was sponsored by James Sensenbrenner, the link is on my site. Since Joe Biden is a ranking member on the Judiciary Committee in the Senate, all crime bills will be co-sponsored by him, as his committee position will allow him to stop any crime bill cold.
Also if you BOTHERED to read first, you would see that Chief Fannon in Wasilla opposed the Alaska Bill because it made NO provision for obtaining restitution from a perpetrator and that is why he opposed it. Not because anyone wanted to stick women with the bill. When you came to the conclusion that the administration in Wasilla were some kind of monsters, didnt you stop to ask yourself “why would a police chief want to make sure women paid” before you started posting these silly accusations?
At least the Illinois bill made a provision for the perp to pay if he was found guilty. But the bottom line is that many women still ended up with pating for the kit in Illinois. The Law there makes it clear why AND womens groups as shown in the US News & World Report article shows it.
Of course if you had a shred of consistancy, how many poor women in Illinois were stuck with the bill even before this Law passed, was every mayor and police chicf in the State of Illinois some kraven jerk out to make women pay? To be consistant you would have to take that position.
Women who arent near destitute who ’s insurance would not cover it could still be stuck with the bill under that Illinois law.
Of course, if you ideological nuts weren’t so obsessed with trying to make Palin into some kraven figure, you could just read the evidence and see what was going on, but you have no interest in the facts.
Why do you think that the Obama campaign hasnt touched this at all…… think and get facts BEFORE you post… the order of those things IS important.