After years of advocacy, the Joyful Heart Foundation today celebrated Maryland Governor Larry Hogan’s signing of H.B. 1096, which will ensure most rape kits are submitted to a crime lab and tested in a timely manner. This effort, coupled with the $3.5 million the legislature has appropriated to test kits, standardizes rape kit handling processes throughout Maryland and sends a message to survivors that they matter.
The Joyful Heart Foundation today applauded the Maryland state legislature’s passage of H.B. 1124, which requires the Sexual Assault Evidence Kit (SAEK) Policy and Funding Committee to develop recommendations to create and operate a statewide rape kit tracking system that will be accessible to victims of sexual assault. Tracking sexual assault kits in law enforcement custody is a critical piece of rape kit reform and adds to the efforts championed by State Delegate Shelly Hettleman to address the handling of rape kits in Maryland.
In a report released on August 10, 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) criticized the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) for violating the constitutional and legal rights of Baltimore residents. The DOJ also identified an alarming pattern of negligence in the BPD’s handling of sexual assault cases. The report found that in such cases, the BPD […]
