HELP PUT RAPISTS IN JAIL!
THE SCOOP ON AN IMPORTANT LAW
by Jessica Reaves

Do you feel safe in your own kitchen? So did Debbie Smith, on a quiet Friday afternoon in Williamsburg, Virginia. She had completed the day's chores, and her husband, off-duty police officer Robert Smith, was upstairs, taking a nap. But Smith's idyll was shattered by the man who broke into her house, blindfolded her and forced her outside, into the woods behind her house, where he raped her repeatedly. At the end of the nightmare, Smith's attacker told her: "Remember, I know where you live, and I will come back and kill you if you tell anyone."

That was on March 3, 1989. Thanks to her husband, Smith did all the things a rape victim should do: She immediately went to the authorities, who collected what's known as a rape kit — samples of fluid and hair left by the rapist, which can reveal his DNA (or unique genetic makeup).

Then the waiting began. It took six long years for Smith's rape kit to be analyzed, during which time she lived in constant fear. Finally, her rapist's DNA was identified — and matched with a blood sample from a prison database. Norman Jimmerson, a convict who was already serving time for another crime, was convicted of raping Smith and sentenced to two life terms plus 25 years in prison. He will never get parole.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, a woman is raped every six minutes in this country, and many rapists commit this crime eight to 10 times before they are caught. That means that, at any given moment, there are literally millions of rape survivors waiting to hear that their attacker has been apprehended. Smith waited six agonizing years for justice to be served. Other women aren't even that lucky. Many nurses and police officers don't know what to do — either with evidence or with the victim herself — when a woman comes in and says, "I've been raped." Even if authorities collect a rape kit, it may be poorly handled and deemed inadmissible in court, or simply left to collect dust until the statute of limitations to prosecute the rape has passed. The Justice Department reports that there are approximately 150,000 to 500,000 rape kits nationwide that have yet to be analyzed because law enforcement officials are short on both the funds and the skilled personnel necessary to process the kits and match the evidence collected to existing DNA samples of known criminals.

A new piece of legislation, named after Debbie Smith, the Debbie Smith Act/DNA Sexual Assault Justice Act of 2003, seeks to remedy this sad state of affairs. With sponsors such as Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Mark Green (R-WI) and Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA), the Debbie Smith Act/DNA Sexual Assault Justice Act of 2003 calls for $250 million in grants to help make the investigation and prosecution of rape cases more efficient. States would use the funds to devise a standardized rape kit, maintain a national database of DNA records and create programs to train specialized nurses to collect evidence that will always be admissible in court. Taken together, these initiatives could help solve the nation's enormous backlog of unsolved rape cases.

"Each one of these stalled cases represents women's lives," says Debbie Smith. "Many women are paralyzed after an attack because their rapist is still out there, and you never know if he's going to come back." Smith's emotional testimony moved many Washington lawmakers to tears — and action. "We can never take away the pain and anguish that these victims endure, but we can work to fully support the health care professionals, law enforcement and other first responders who assist victims in the critical aftermath period following the assaults," says Rodham Clinton. "It is vital that these professionals are sufficiently trained…so that victims can draw comfort from the greater assurance that the perpetrators of the crimes committed against them will be apprehended and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

Today, Smith travels the country lobbying for the use of DNA-matching technology — and the law created in her name. She wants other women to experience the closure she has spent so many years working toward. "Whenever I have to deal with my attack again, I know that I'm going to have [another] nightmare," she says. "I know this is never going to be OK and I'm never going to forget, but at least I know I'm making something good out of something so terrible."

Related Links:
Act now! Sign our petition in support of the Debbie Smith Act/DNA Sexual Assault Justice Act of 2003.

For information on the statute of limitations for rape and sexual assault cases in your state, call your district attorney — or review this snapshot of laws in all 50 states.