Palin's town charged for rape exams

[RamboLiberal]

Source: CNN

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CNN) -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's hometown required women to pay for their own rape examinations while she was mayor, a practice her police chief fought to keep as late as 2000.

Former state Rep. Eric Croft, a Democrat, sponsored a state law requiring cities to provide the examinations free of charge to victims. He said the only ongoing resistance he met was from Wasilla, where Palin was mayor from 1996 to 2002.

"It was one of those things everyone could agree on except Wasilla," Croft told CNN. "We couldn't convince the chief of police to stop charging them."

Alaska's Legislature in 2000 banned the practice of charging women for rape exam kits -- which experts said could cost up to $1,000.

Palin, the Republican nominee for vice president, often talks about her experience running Wasilla, population approximately 7,000, and that has prompted close scrutiny of her record there. Wasilla's practice of charging victims for their rape exams while she was mayor has gotten wide circulation on the Internet and in the mainstream media.


Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/21/palin.rape.exams/index.html

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Gee, nice of CNN to finally report a story we've discussed for around 2 weeks now.

[Cush]

1. Hi CNN, Mr 2-Week-sAgo calling

[oldcoot]

2. It is good to remind people

In case anyone forgets Palin's record on women's issues, it is good to run this story again as a reminder.

I especially like this article because of this line "Some supporters of Palin say they believe she had no knowledge of the practice." I thought mayors were like community organizers, only with responsibilities. Wasn't one of her responsibilities to know what is going on in her town? If she could not trick of her police chief, how could she possibly keep track of the federal government?

[47of74]

5. If anyone believes the McCain camp's stories

I noted this in the story,

In a statement, Jill Hazelbaker, communications director for Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign, said that "to imply that Gov. Palin is or has ever been an advocate of charging victims for evidence gathering kits is an utter distortion of reality."

"As her record shows, Gov. Palin is committed to supporting victims and bringing violent criminals to justice," Hazelbaker said. "She does not, nor has she ever believed that rape victims should have to pay for an evidence gathering test."

If anyone out there believes that (or anything else the McCain campaign says for that matter), I have the following structures for sale;

[torbird]

13. The Later, the better

The later this hits in the election cycle, the better people will remember it on election day. We're winning.

[roguevalley]

14. SNERK! That is funny, Cush.

[AndyTiedye]

3. Also Fighting to Force Rape Victims to Bear their Rapists' Children

[prayin4rain]

9. Exactly, pay for the kit and then have the baby.

Pig is too nice a word for her.

[livelongandprosper]

4. CNN is another Johnny-come-lately

When did I read this on DU? Two weeks ago? Three?

[47of74]

6. Quite a while

I've known about this for quite a while now. What surprises me is that the main stream media could be bothered to report on this.

[Ian David]

7. It's Palin's $1,200 Rape Victim Tax. n/t

[Crowman1979]

8. That's the old media for ya!

It's just a waste of paper and Satellite bandwith.

[mikekohr]

10. One Way To Make Rape Statistics Fall Is To Revictimize the Rape Victim a Second Time

Charging the victim for part of the investigation of the crime would accomplish this.

following are some statistics on rape and incest in the land of the midnight bribe:


Senator Murkowski (R)AK, said funding is needed for every aspect of sexual assault, including initial investigation, prosecution and incarceration. She is seeking an appropriation in the upcoming budget, she said.
The senator gave an alarming list of the statistics that describe Alaska's "epidemic" of sex crimes: One out of five adults will be a victim of forcible rape in their lifetime, or nearly 44,000 adults; an adult Alaska woman is raped every 18 minutes; more adult women have been raped than wear glasses or contacts.
"Our statistics are almost unimaginable, given our population," she said.
http://www.adn.com/209/story/190180.html

• 80-90% of rapes against women (except for American Indian women) are committed by someone of the same racial background as the victim. (US Dept. of Justice 1994)
• American Indian victims of rape reported the offender as either white or black in 90% of reports. (Department of Justice 1997)
http://www2.ucsc.edu/rape-prevention/statistics.html (the breakdown of rape perps against Native Women is 12% Black, 78% White)

Only Alaska (20.9% of its women raped versus 20.6% in Utah compared to 13.4% of all women nationally) has a higher rate in the United States. The estimates are said to be conservative because they do not include the cases of women who have experienced attempted rape; rapes where the women were unconscious or impaired by drugs or alcohol; or statutory rape where there was no force. (Salt Lake Tribune, 7/12/03)
http://www.mazeministry.com/mormonism/statistics/rape.h ...

Alaska has the highest incidence of rape and incest in the nation. Alaskan Senator Barbara Murkowski ® AK said, “"Our statistics are almost unimaginable… more adult women have been raped than wear glasses or contacts.” Yet as mayor, Palin’s administration charged victims of rape and incest for their own rape kits, ($230.00) an action so outrageous that it was cited as the reason that the Alaskan State legislature passed a law forbidding the practice.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/mikekohr


mike kohr

p.s. I'm from a small, rural community, in Illinois. Rape and incest are not values we practice or appreciate, but in the rare case these abominations do occur we DO NOT charge the victim for the rape test. Never did. Never will. Never even considered it.


mike kohr

mike kohr

[crazylikafox]

11. Well, better late than never.

[AllentownJake]

12. Moveon.org, NOW, Emily's List et al.

You have your credible media source. Run the 527 ad.