Thirty-Two Million Dollars and Justice

We spend a lot of money on a lot of things in this country, but how much are we willing to pay for justice?

Is it not written in Amos 5:24 that – But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream?

Evil men have committed evil acts. Are we willing to seek justice, even if it costs thirty-two million dollars?

There are 13,000 untested rape kits in the State of Florida. It is estimated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement that it could cost anywhere between nine and thirty-two million dollars to test all the kits some of which have been stored in police departments for years.

Every rape kit needs to be checked and checked as quickly as possible. Why? Here’s an excerpt from the article found in the Guardian –

(From the story, More than 13,000 rape kits remain untested in Florida, officials say – -)

Testing old rape kits usually leads to a torrent of new prosecutions. Several law enforcement agencies have found that the rape kits point to serial rapists.

After Detroit processed a backlog of 11,000 rape kits, police identified more than 100 serial rape suspects.

And here is a quote from the report itself –

In 2000, the City of New York initiated the process of inventorying and testing all previously unsubmitted SAKs without regard to the status or facts of the case (forklift approach). Testing of 17,000 SAKs resulted in over 2,000 DNA matches and 200 cold case prosecutions across New York City. Those offenders are now serving more than 900 years in prison. Similar results have been reported in Michigan where the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office identified 188 potential serial rapists and obtained 15 convictions. In Houston, Texas, testing of 6,663 untested SAKs resulted in 850 matches in the federal DNA database and the prosecution of 29.

Many rapists are serial rapists. Testing a large number of rape kits from a single geographical area often pulls up the same name many times. A serial rapist can rape hundreds of women during their criminal career. Testing rape kits connects the dots in eminently prosecutorial format.

As a criminal justice professional, these kits are a tool to rid society of many of these repeat offenders.

This is a worthy goal and it is worth thirty two million dollars.

James Pilant