Memphis Gets Sued Over 15,000 Lost Rape Kits. Oopsie-Daisy!

[ismnotwasm]

According to a lawsuit filed by an unnamed Memphis woman who was a victim of sexual assault 13 years ago, the Memphis Police Department has been exceptionally shitty about actually doing a thing — a single thing — about testing them.

You'd think with all this technology we have nowadays it would be easier to stay organized, but it seems that life is more confusing than ever. Where are my keys? Where is my fancy-pantsy phone? Where are those 15,000 untested rape kits? Did I throw those away with that ball of old receipts at the bottom of my purse?

Memphis isn't the only municipality with a big closet full o' TK rape kits; according to estimates, around 180,000 rape kits remain untested across the country.

This is especially upsetting when taking into consideration the process of submitting to a post-rape forensic medical exam can be upsetting and traumatic for victims, involving a head-to-toe exam, including an internal exam and photo documentation. That thousands of women submitted to the process and trusted law enforcement would follow up only to be let down by the institutions that are supposed to protect is unconscionable. If police departments exist to protect civilians, only they fail to protect half of civilians, then for what purpose do police departments exist?

http://jezebel.com/memphis-gets-sued-over-15-000-lost-rape-kits-oopsie-da-1489836045

[NYC_SKP]

1. Wow. But then, what's the point of actually processing the kits when the outcome is predetermined?

If you know what I mean.

As sad as it is.....

[seabeyond]

2. 15k here, 7k there, 20 k over there. Damn good thing rape dropped 60%. How does that work

60% drop. 1 in 4-6 raped. Add 60% more rape, 1 in 2-3 raped? At least he dropped his drop rate from 87% to 60%

[xulamaude]

6. +1

[Tuesday Afternoon]

3. did you just say --

K&R

[ismnotwasm]

4. Heh!

[Tuesday Afternoon]

19. I posted a joke. However, this is not funny and I am horrified to learn this. K&R

I rec'd earlier ... now I am kicking

[intaglio]

5. I'm wondering how many of these contribute to the "unsubstantiated claim" classification

You know the classification that MRAs insist means that women lie about rape.

[adieu]

7. Evidence helps both sides, when used properly

Evidence could clear an accused as much as indict the accused. As long as LE are willing to let the evidence speak for themselves and not try to sway the interpretation of evidence.

[intaglio]

8. Get the point right

Certain persons of restricted empathy like to claim that there are vast numbers of women who falsely report rape and cite, as evidence, the know fact that there are many unsubstantiated claims. The real truth may be that the claims are only unsubstantiated because they have not been investigated.

In a way it looks as if you are saying that many "falsely" accused men will be cleared by tests of these kits and if so - enjoy your stay.

[seabeyond]

9. thank you. you are correct. nt

[adieu]

12. You completely missed my point

I expect you to re-read and offer full apology.

FYI, I'm saying evidence is evidence. It should be used and let the evidence tell the story, not have police hide it or reinterpret it. Ignoring the evidence gathered, as in this case in Memphis, is a miscarriage of justice.

[intaglio]

13. This was not about the evidence it is about the failure to examine evidence

You are trying to raise the fraudulent idea that there have been men been charged and who would be exonerated; there have not.

[adieu]

14. Again you have made an allegation on my statements

That I had no intention of making. I make no assertion about the fraudulent idea you claim I made. Again learn to read, not instill your prejudices and assumptions into other people's words.

[intaglio]

15. Quote, emphasis mine

From your post #7

Evidence could clear an accused as much as indict the accused. As long as LE are willing to let the evidence speak for themselves and not try to sway the interpretation of evidence.

Your intention is to imply that there are "accused" who need to be cleared.

[intaglio]

17. Your implication was that the failure to examine these rape kits was equitable

Wrong, goodbye

[ismnotwasm]

20. That was number 17

MRA debating tactics

17. Resort to metatheory, essentially committing an argumentum verbosium fallacy (a.k.a., bullshitting your way through an argument with fancy language and advanced but irrelevant concepts). In the case of agentssith, there’s always room to talk about epistemology and Wittgenstein when someone is talking about anthropological research. Why talk about patriarchy as a social and cultural concept in the sciences when you can distract people with some deep-sounding discussion about the use of words and the philosophy of knowledge? It doesn’t matter that your opponent knows that anthropology, as a science, uses an evidentialist, foundational (axiomatic) epistemology, namely the inquiry of scientific method, and that talking about epistemology is, well, totally irrelevant to talking about patriarchy in anthropology (after all, we never distract physicists by asking them to explain the epistemic status of their knowledge after they tell us they discovered the Higgs Boson, do we?). You don’t have to impress or distract her, just impress and distract everyone else so that it looks like you know more than her. Remember, when your buddies say you won because they don’t know any better, you won.

a

http://www.democraticunderground.com/125532659

[redqueen]

21. I would love to have those memorized

So i'd be able to just quote the number when encountering these tactics on DU.

[hobbit709]

10. I would be willing to bet their accountability for any other evidence isn't any better.

[VA_Jill]

11. I am willing to bet

that Memphis is far from the only place with this kind of backlog of untested rape kits. Seems to me I have read of other cities with a backlog also. I'm hopeful that this is only the first of MANY lawsuits and that something will be done to get police departments and cities off their collective a$$es and prosecuting these cases as they should have been to start with!

[seabeyond]

18. you are right. memphis is far from the only city. nt

[mercuryblues]

22. how many

of these untested kits can lead to repeat offenders? How many people have been/will be raped because the kits have not been tested?

[thucythucy]

23. Bookmarked for later because

it's just too depressing for me to read it right now.

Thanks for the OP, though, word about this (lost rape kits) needs to get out.

Maybe if we "lost" the paychecks of the people responsible for this travesty?