New Evidence: Palin Had Direct Role In Charging Rape Victims For Exams

[Stuart G]

Please read this at Huffington Post...it traces this decision to charge right back to Palin... She even fired someone in her desire to cut the budget...........This one will do it.......

"Under Sarah Palin's administration, Wasilla cut funds that had previously paid for the medical exams and began charging victims or their health insurers the $500 to $1200 fees. Although Palin spokeswoman Maria Comella wrote USA Today earlier this week that the GOP vice presidential nominee "does not believe, nor has she ever believed, that rape victims should have to pay for an evidence-gathering test...To suggest otherwise is a deliberate misrepresentation of her commitment to supporting victims and bringing violent criminals to justice," Palin, as mayor, fired police chief Irl Stambaugh and replaced him with Charlie Fannon, who with Palin's knowledge, slashed the budget for the exams and began charging the city's victims of sexual assault. The city budget documents demonstrate Palin read and signed off on the new budget. A year later, alarmed Alaska lawmakers passed legislation outlawing the practice."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jacob-alperinsheriff/sarah-palin-instituted-ra_b_125833.html

[MercutioATC]

1. My brother-in-law is pretty "inside" the McCain campaign. He says new info in the next 2 days...

I don't know what they plan to say, but he insinuated that this won't be an issue in a couple of days.

He didn't elaborate further.

[ellacott]

5. I wish people would drop this . They may try to make this Biden's fault

The grants that come from the federal govt to pay for these kits are under the Violence Against Women Act. Biden frequently talks about establishing this. Alaska isn't the only state that charges for these kits. There have been some reports that hopsitals in Illinois also charge for these. Some states say they are not getting enough funding from this to pay for the kits. This could be thrown back at Biden since this is his bill

I wish we would let this go before it backfires.

[ellacott]

7. wrong post

.

[blm]

8. If it's underfunded that wouldn't be Biden's fault.

.

[ellacott]

12. To a person with common sense you are correct

But it still doesn't negate the fact that other states charge for these kits. It's also been reported that ERs in Illinois have charged for these kits also.

The blowback on us would be devastating. They will run the ads calling us hypocrites and sadly, they would be correct.

[Stuart G]

11. I don't know what to say to this...

If federal funds were insufficient to pay for these kits, it has to be the fault of the executive who prepared the federal budget.
How could it be Biden's fault? ...
..This war has even taken our ability to pay for kits for rape victims...How can one respond to this?

[ellacott]

15. Doesn't the appropiations commitee play a part in the disbursement?

I think this would go over the head of many of the low information voters and it would be something that the MSM would run with(just to see a fight).

[Stuart G]

16. Perhaps..but what about the original budget item? Who cut funding in the first place? nt

[ellacott]

17. I'm not sure, I'll look it up.

[JimDandy]

39. The fact is that the Wasilla police department should

be paying for the EVIDENCE kits out of their own budget. Period. That there were even grants available, whether from Sen. Biden's bill or otherwise, to help pay for the kits was a boon to their department (and all other police departments around the country that benefited from access to the funds.)

But, in the absence of any outside funding for the kits, it is the police department's RESPONSIBILITY to collect evidence from a crime scene and to pay for the processing of that evidence.

Charging the VICTIM of a crime to process evidence is an irresponsible policy that undermines the health, safety and welfare of the public - the very things that the police are empowered to protect!

I can just see it now: Sir, before we can conduct an investigation into the murder of your toddler, we need you to sign this contract that states you will pay for all expenses in gathering and processing the evidence from the crime scene, and especially from her body.

Or how about: "Ma'am, you'll need to collect the feces and urine the burglar left behind in your storage unit and pay for the DNA tests on it." (Yes, a real burglar actually left that behind - no pun intended.)

Why are we even talking about treating a crime of rape any differently from a murder, burglary, bank robbery etc.

Talk about sexist (Most rapes ARE of females). Way to go Sarah Palin!!

This will backfire on McCain so bad, if they try to blame this on Biden.

[dkf]

48. If it backfires on the Dems so that both parties make sure it never happens again I'm

perfectly fine with that.

[justiceischeap]

19. That seems pretty darn cryptic. New info concerning this issue or new info in general? n/t

[MercutioATC]

26. New info concerning this issue...supposedly info helpful to Palin

He wasn't any more specific than that.

[moxie_1]

38. The sherrif being criticized was on record as wanting the rapists to be responsible for the fee

I don't know if this is the reason your brother-in-law has in mind, but as a rape crisis counselor, I had looked into this early on and decided there was no there there because of this:

(This was published in the same article from 2000 that is the source of the quotes of him saying he didn't want the state to bear the expense.)

"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.

Ultimately it is the criminal who should bear the burden of the added costs, Fannon said.

The forensic exam is just one part of the equation. Id like to see the courts make these people pay restitution for these things, Fannon said.

Fannon said he intends to include the cost of exams required to collect evidence in a restitution request as a part of a criminals sentencing.

http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2000/05/23/news.txt

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

43. the rape kit is a tool of a crim investigation, not a personal exp

For one thing, you need evidence to get someone arrested and or convicted.

You can't bill the rapist if you can't convict him, and if you deter victims from getting
a rape kit, then you can't convict the rapist.

The city, if they are so concerned, should pay for the kits, and if there is a conviction, let
them try to collect from the rapist.

Instead of trying to deter the victim from participating in a criminal investigation, which is
what the rape kit is part of.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

44. Alaska could divert some of the oil kick back money

to pay for this, instead of paying off everyone to like the Gov.

[dkf]

47. The state/city should pay for it then try to get restitution.

There is NO WAY a rape victim should have to pay for anything needed to prosecute the perpetrator ever.

[moxie_1]

58. He wanted the bill to force rapists to owe the hospital or state, and Obama's bill ...

I don't know the specifics, so I've remained silent through these threads until now. But I had watched this discussion between medical professionals last week, and other Obama supporters there also said it wasn't worth pursuing because of this and claims that the bill Obama sponsored also charges patients if they have insurance.

I didn't want to add the second factor, because I couldn't understand the legal language they were getting it from. But last night, I found this on a fellow blogger's site:

http://messageboards.aol.com/aol/en_us/articles.php?boardId=528628&articleId=1820704

... ... it isn't being done in Illinois... thanks in part to Barack Obama.

In the state of Illinois, House Bill 1814 (HB1814) amends the Crime Victims Compensation Act. It was passed in 2001. As indicated here, this bill:

Amends the Crime Victims Compensation Act to permit emergency awards; to extend the statute of limitations for filing for compensation from one year to 2 years; and to revise subrogation provisions to require deposits into a special fund for costs related to recovery efforts by the Attorney General. Provides that if the Comptroller offsets a claim, the individual or entity receiving the funds must credit the applicant's or victim's account and may not pursue payment from the applicant or victim for the amount. Amends the Court of Claims Act to permit emergency awards to be approved by the decision of one judge.

According to the University of Chicago, what this means for rape victims, in plain English, is:

"According to the Sexual Assault Emergency Treatment Act, the Illinois Department of Public Aid will reimburse the costs of ER treatment if you do not have public aid or private medical insurance. Under the Illinois Crime Victims Compensation Act, if you report the assault to the police within 72 hours of the crime and if you file a claim application within two years of the date of the crime, you can be reimbursed for out-of-pocket medical expenses, loss of earnings, psychological counseling, and loss of support income due to the crime. Reimbursement can be up to $27,000."

Hell, I still don't understand exactly what it all means :shrug: but I'm posting it as a guess that it's what the poster's brother-in-law was referring to.

[beac]

50. HOW do you not see any 'there there'???

He was OPPOSED to the law that was passed EXPRESSLY to stop his town from charging rape victims-- the ONLY town in Alaska doing so.

What if the woman couldn't afford the test and so declined to have it done?? What if the rapist was never caught?? What if he wasn't convicted?? Including the costs in a 'restitution request'???? WTF? How many rape victims get to see their rapist convicted, much LESS receiving restitution from their rapist?!?!?!

And I'm sure McBastard's lawyers are up there spreading around hush money and trying to shred, shred, shred, but the information is YEARS old and already widely reported in the articles at the time. I can't see how Palin skates on this.

[FVZA_Colonel]

41. How can this not be an issue?

It's an established fact that this practice existed, and even if she didn't start it she would have had to let it continue; the legislation outlawing this documents that it existed.

[pnwmom]

2. Wow. Thanks for this. K & R. n/t

[OmahaBlueDog]

3. Everybody needs to hammer their local media providers to get this story out in front

Most would be appalled to learn of this story.

..and for those saying she had no direct knowledge: You are asking us to assess Caribou Barbie's credentials to lead the largest industrialized nation on earth based on her brief tenure as governor and her tenure as mayor of a smalltown. Fair enough, but do not then get upset when we ask that she be held accountable for the budgets and law enforcement decisions for which she is responsible.

[ellacott]

9. Please don't try to push this story

It will backfire. Alaska is not the only state that charges for these kits.

[OmahaBlueDog]

18. That in itself is a great reason to push the story

This needs to be a law enforcement expense, not a medical insurance expense. If Democrats support this, they need their feet held to the fire as well. It is an outrage.

Rape victims should not be charged for exams.Period. End of sentence.

Furthermore, states need to find money to perform DNA on cold-case rape kits to clear unsolved crimes and bring suspects to justice.

[ellacott]

20. If you want to do this then you want to frame it differently

I agree that these should be paid for but it is wrong to point the finger at Alaska. Alaska wasn't the only state that did this.

It will open up a can of worms. Many states did this.

Please frame it differently if you'd like to make an issue of this.

[OmahaBlueDog]

21. So let's open that can

Honestly, I have no sympathy for any state that does this.

[ellacott]

22. Then frame it as a state issue

and not an Alaska issue. That's all I'm saying. If you try to push it as an Alaska issue and it comes out that Illinois had the same policy it will backfire and we will have np crediblilty of any part of this issue.

Lets make some noise about it but leave it out of this campaign

[beac]

51. It's NOT an Alaska issue, it's a WASILLA issue. Wasilla was the ONLY town in Alaska charging.

And they started charging UNDER MAYOR SARAH PALIN-- she of the millions in earmarks. Money for a hockey rink, but jack-all for rape victims.
She is SCUM, just like her running mate.

[Bluenorthwest]

28. The finger is pointed not at Alaska,

but at Waisaillia, or however you spell the name of the town. This was a CITY policy, when she was mayor. The state of Alaska passed a law that made it illegal in Alaska for a city to charge for rape kits. The only city in Alaska that did, was Palin's 'city' of 5,000 cold hearted bastards.
Facts in place prior to panic please.

[dansolo]

29. Not all of Alaska - just Wasilla

Alaska passed a state law specifically to deal with Wasilla. Her little town was the only place in Alaska that was charging for the kits. They aren't attacking Palin for the charging for the kits during her tenure as Governor of Alaska, but during her time as Mayor of Wasilla. She seems to be so proud of her responsibility as mayor, so this should fall entirely in her lap.

[TorchTheWitch]

33. Who bloody cares if other states did it?

Palin herself made the decision in her town to stop paying for these kits and making the victim foot the bill. That's on HER. Whether she made that decision based on her own warped mindset or because she knew that others that did it isn't going to make one shit's bit of difference to the average person. SHE HERSELF for whatever reason chose to make that decision for her town when no other town in the entire state did. Her state's statistical data shows clearly that regardless of their being far less people for the amount of space Alaska has much more rapes by far than any other state, and still she chose to make the victims in her town pay for their own forensic testing, which any dolt can see would be one more giant obsticle in the way of women choosing to report their rape. "Other states do it" will not fly as an excuse. Palin owns this disgusting and barbaric decision.

[quakerboy]

37. Alaska may not be the only state

But It is my understanding that the state of Alaska had to make a law banning it, primarily because of one City. Wasilla, under Palin.

Correct me with more info here, please.

[beac]

49. The state of Alaska WASN'T doing it-- ONLY the town of Wasilla under Sarah Palin.

The Police Chief she FIRED was NOT charging when she became mayor-- he put money in his budget to cover it.

After she fired him, the new Chief cut the funds with her blessing.

The state of Alaska had to pass a law JUST to stop Wasilla from charging victims for justice.

[JimDandy]

40. Absolutely! Everything you said! See my post above. n/t

[Bluenorthwest]

24. You keep saying that...

But you do not name even one other State or County or City in the country where a person is charged for that kit.
What other State?

[OmahaBlueDog]

25. Did Obama support such a rule as a state senator?

If so, shame on him.

If not, I don't see a problem.

[Bluenorthwest]

27. I agree

And the State frame is a ploy. The rule in question is not from Palin as gov, it is what she did in Waisallia as Mayor. This is not an item usually paid for by States, but by County and City Governments, and that was the case with Palin's cutting of the paying for them. The State of Alaska in fact made a law that no city or county could do that, in order to counter what Palin had done.
There is not way on Earth that Barack Obama would have supported such an inhuman policy. Just no way.

[ellacott]

32. You're not understanding

Do your thing.

[ellacott]

31. For starters

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/on-health-and-money/2008/02/21/rape-victims-can-be-hurt-financially-too.html

http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&hl=en&q=patients+paying+for+rape+kits&btnG=Google+Search

[beac]

52. Neither of those links say Obama or Biden had anything to do with charging victims and

are thus irrelevant to this discussion.

[ellacott]

53. It's not irrelevant at all

It's not a question of whether Biden or Obama had anything to do with it. The question that I answered was, what other states did this.

There is a new provision in the Violence Against Women's Act for 2009 that says that states have to pay for them. Why is there a provision? Not just because of Wasilla but because of many jurisdictions across the country. Many of those jurisdictions were under Democratic control.

I'm not defending what she did but this has much broader implications.

[beac]

55. Yes, it has 'broader implications', but the plain fact is that SHE

did something to rape victims that almost ALL people, whether pro- or anti-choice, would be horrified by.

We need to use this. Just because there are other mayors who are doing the same thing, doesn't make it untouchable. It puts her in the company of some of the worst a-holes in the country and she needs to be called on it.

PERIOD.

[Phredicles]

35. Maybe, but Wasila was the ONLY place in Alaska that did such a thing.

[progressivebydesign]

56. that only makes the other States assholes toward women, as well.

Can you FUCKING imagine being raped, uninsured, and having to spend up to $1,200.00 to collect evidence to find/charge the rapist?

I don't care if half the states do this.. it's WRONG.

And i have no problem pointing out that Palin was a part of it. Considering her State has enough of a surplus to throw around.

[ladjf]

4. Palin seems to have no scruples.

Why would a person who claims to be a Jesus loving woman willingly add to the hardships of rape victims? Who was the person assigned to informing the possible rape victim that first they would have to fork over $1,000 bucks just to be tested? That would mean that a woman without the money would be deprived of that test.

And, if Palin is innocent of the numerous criticisms of her, she needs to hold a news conference and address each and every alleged scandal. Maybe she could prove us wrong. Her cause is most definitely not going to be helped by trying to squash the subpoenas in the "trooper-gate" matter.

[cliffordu]

6. EXCELLENT!!!

I do feel for the women who were raped twice. Once by the rapist, and then by Palin.

[TrogL]

10. I can think of other ways to improve hospital budgets

...like not building the highway and bridge to nowhere, for starters.

CraftyGal is in the hospital, so I'm seeing this first-hand. I also saw Sicko last week.

Hospitals are very, very expensive places to run, especially if so much money is wasted hiring people to do nothing but argue with insurance companies and HMO's.

Saving a couple of hundred on a rape kit is a drop in the bucket.

[brentspeak]

13. This issue needs to be made into several TV ads

Before it's too late, that is.

[Stuart G]

14. Would it be wrong to make her explain what the hell was going on with this?

After all, it was her budget, which she prepared,,,great executive....

[cvoogt]

23. $25 million sports hall ..

and not enough to cover the victims of rape in a town of 6000?
Priorities, Palin, PRIORITIES!

[Kitty Herder]

46. You hit the nail on the head. nt

[crickets]

30. K&R

Solid information, Stuart G. Thanks for the link.

[Politicub]

34. The only reason Sarah would do something like that

was to punish the victim. But why? It's just such an odd, mean thing to do to someone who has been raped.

[Phredicles]

36. Evidently she thinks such women were "asking for it",

or at least lying about it. A truly odious excuse for a human being.

[SilverSRT4Turbo]

42. It will never get any play

I explained this to some folks at my work. They were shocked but.... still said Palin was so "awesome"....I want to stab them to death with a spork...seriously.

[symbolman]

45. I love all these people telling us NOT to Fight Disgusting Corruption

On this site.. In my seven years here, I've never seen anything like it..

I have something to tell them. WE have always fought these sick bastards tooth and nail and we won't stop now. We are not the Wimpy Democrats, you'll find them on other boards.

So instead of defending these corrupt and disgusting republican tactics by suggesting we give them a Pass, or they'll be upset somehow, it's not going to work..

We know we'd damn well GUT these killers and rapists who are screwing our countrymen, if for no other reason but that WE or someone we love will be NEXT..

The day of excusing ANYTHING they do is Long Past.

Period.

[ellacott]

54. No one said don't fight them

You're getting all upset for nothing.

[progressivebydesign]

57. What Symbolman said... hell ya! N/t

[progressivebydesign]

59. She had enough to build that useless sports complex, and other pet projects..

all that pork money she got from the govt, and she can't do that? She is consistently ANTI-woman, it shows. Yes, women can be anti-woman. She is supposedly the type that thinks she's a jock -- and if a woman can't go back to work after a few days of giving birth, then they're a whiner. She's a dangerous person for women.