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SATI e-News: September 2, 2002
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In This
Issue: |
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VOCA Funding
Threatened |
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Rape crisis centers
and other victim service agencies will face considerable funding
cuts next year if provisions of the Senate Appropriations bill,
S.2778 become law. S.2778 caps the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA)
fund at $566.5 million—a decrease of $58.7 million for
fiscal year 2003, according to an alert from the National
Center for Victims of Crime (NCVC). With Congress scheduled to
adjourn October 4th, time is running out for action.
This drop in funding results from last year’s congressional change
to the VOCA formula, which increased the amount of funds available
to victim compensation. Unless the cap is raised, this increase of
funding for victim compensation decreases the amount left for VOCA
assistance—the funding for programs. (More information about this
is available at
http://www.ncvc.org/law/
in_congress/in_congress_fundingappropriations.htm.)
With congressional appropriators drafting spending bills right
now--and Congress scheduled to adjourn in one month--now is the
time to act. Advocates are not the only ones who can make an
impact. If you are a criminalist, forensic examiner, police
officer or prosecutor, you know how important rape crisis
advocates are to your work. Your voice will add considerable
weight on Capitol Hill.
Since the Senate bill has already passed out of committee,
proponents of lifting the VOCA cap are focusing efforts on House
Appropriations members. Your voice is especially important right
now if you live in the districts of one of the
65 Appropriations committee members, particularly the
Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and State (CJS), the current
focal point of activity. CJS members include
Rep. Frank R.
Wolf (R-VA),
Harold
Rogers (R-KY),
Jim Kolbe
(R-AZ),
Charles H. Taylor (R-NC),
Ralph
Regula (R-OH),
Tom Latham
(R-IA),
Dan Miller (R-FL),
David Vitter
(R-LA),
Jose E. Serrano (D-NY),
Alan B.
Mollohan (D-WV),
Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA),
Robert E.
“Bud” Cramer, Jr. (D-AL) or
Patrick J. Kennedy (D-RI).
We strongly suggest phone calls or faxes vs. mail or email. Mail
delivery on Capitol Hill is still problematic due to the anthrax
screening. Emails may go unread. Get on the phone, and let your
voice be heard. Keep in mind that they should be more responsive
to you since elections are so close. If you are unable to phone,
send a fax instead.
Here are some talking points about VOCA:
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Describe how your
agency uses VOCA funds, and what services you would have to cut.
Quantify wherever possible. How many victims did you serve
annually for the past two years, how long is your waiting list,
how many victims are likely to be impacted?
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VOCA funding does not
come from taxpayers. It is specifically collected from fines and
other criminal penalties in federal criminal cases.
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If the VOCA cap is not
raised, funding for victim services will decrease, at a time when
the need has increased and state funds are shrinking. Reference,
if you can, how your community has seen more demands for services.
You might mention your outreach to underserved populations, e.g.
non-english speaking victims, the disabled, teens and others.
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VOCA was created to
help our nation meet the needs of victims of crime. The money is
already in-hand and earmarked for victims. Congress must release
additional VOCA funds now, to be used for the intended purposes,
which are so great at this point in time.
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Let them know that
you, your agency, and the victims it serves will be watching this
issue closely, and that you will remember their support (or lack
thereof) when you vote in November.
To find the contact information for your representative, go to
http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.html. If you do not know
who your representative is, this page will help direct you by
simply entering your zip code.
Please drop a line at
deblandrew@aol.com and let us know which office you contacted,
and what they said. We will continue to send out action alerts,
but intelligence from your contact will help us develop the next
contact strategy.
Sources:
Senate Bill S.2778, go to
http://thomas.loc.gov and search on bill number S.2778.
"Federal Victim Assistance to Drop 15% Unless Congress Acts”,
National Center for Victims of Crime
Testimony by National Center for Victims of Crime (NCVC) before
Approps, CJS,
www.ncvc.org/law/in_congress/in_congress_fundingappropriations.htm
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Sex Offender
Registry News in Utah and Michigan |
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The Utah Department of Corrections
will start notifying law enforcement officials in October of
convicted sex offenders who have enrolled as students or been
hired to work on campus.
Corrections was responding to recent amendments to Utah’s Sex
Offender Registration Law, which were intended to bring the
state into compliance with a new federal law, according to the
Deseret News.
Law enforcement will identify campus-based offenders through new
fields, which were added to the existing sex offender forms.
Utah offenders are required to update the form annually.
Machelle Rodrigues, registry director, told the Deseret
News that approximately two-thirds of the 5,800 individuals
listed on Utah’s registry comply with the law.
Utah college officials are struggling to determine how to
respond to the information they will receive from law
enforcement with regard to campus disclosure.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press reports that a federal
appeals court ruling last month re-opened the Michigan's sex
offender registry, which was shut down June 3rd of this year.
The Michigan sex offender registry was closed after a convicted
sex offender won a lawsuit that questioned the law’s
constitutionality.
See SATI e-news July 8 issue.
The current court decision allows the Michigan sex offender
registries—both the public one and the more comprehensive
database maintained by law enforcement—to continue until the
case goes through appeal.
“Utah Gearing Up for Sex-Offender Law”, Deseret News,
August 10, 2002
“Michigan Sex Offender Registry to Open,” Associated Press,
August 22, 2002.
Michigan's sex offender registry:
http://www.mipsor.state.mi.us
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DNA Tests Link
Slaying Defendant to Florida Case |
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San Diego County prosecutors who are
trying felon Scott Thomas Erskine for the 1993 torture,
molestation and murder of two young boys, revealed that he has
also been linked through DNA to a 1989 Florida slaying. In the
Florida case, Erskine’s DNA was lifted from a cigarette butt
that was found near the victim’s body, as reported by Copley
News Service. Erskine has served eight years of a life
sentence for the rape of a San Diego woman, a crime that
occurred about six months after the boys were killed in 1993. As
a teen-ager in San Diego county, Erskine was in and out of
prison with convictions for sexual assaults against women, girls
and boys. He was paroled at 22 in the mid-1980's.
Sources:
August 23, 2002 issue of DNA Legislation & News,
published by Smith Alling Lane, a government affairs firm that
provides nationwide governmental affairs services to Applied
Biosystems:
http://docs.appliedbiosystems.com/hid.taf
“DNA tests link slaying defendant to Florida case,” Copley
News Service, August 21, 2002
San Diego Police Department, Sex
Crimes Unit:
http://www.ci.san-diego.ca.us/police/about/sexcrimes.shtml
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Single CODIS
Hit Reveals Serial Sex Offender With Offenses Across Country
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In Oklahoma, the kidnapping and rape
of a 9-year-old girl has been linked to a 36-year-old man
through DNA tests that also turned up matches to other sexual
assaults around the nation, according to the Associated Press.
DNA tests identified the suspect as Steven James Selby, a 36
year-old white male. Selby has outstanding felony warrants and
is still at large. In many of the cases, the suspect entered the
victim's residence during the early morning hours or while the
victim was sleeping and sexually assaulted her.
Tucson and San Diego Police Departments had identified the same
DNA profile in a series of sexual assaults that occurred over
the last couple of years in San Diego, California and Tucson,
Arizona. Oklahoma was the third state to identify the same DNA
profile in the sexual assault of a 9-year-old girl. Sparks
Police Department (Nevada) investigated a sexual assault
involving a young girl in the spring of 2001. In that case,
detectives identified a possible suspect and his DNA was
obtained from the suspect's residence after he fled.
Apparently, the suspect DNA was only recently entered into the
National DNA (CODIS) Database, which provided investigators in
Oklahoma, Arizona and California with the much sought after
identity of their assailant.
Sources:
"Wanted suspect linked to girl's rape." The Associated Press
State & Local Wire, August 20, 2002.
August 23, 2002 issue of DNA Legislation & News,
published by Smith Alling Lane, a government affairs firm that
provides nationwide governmental affairs services to Applied
Biosystems:
http://docs.appliedbiosystems.com/hid.taf
San Diego Police Department, Sex
Crimes Unit:
http://www.ci.san-diego.ca.us/police/about/sexcrimes.shtml
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Harvard Raises Standard of
Proof in Rape/Sexual Assault Cases |
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Harvard students are returning to
campus this fall to find a change in campus judicial policy that
they know little about, but which is already at the center of a
national controversy and under federal investigation.
The new policy, slated to go into effect this fall, requires
eyewitnesses, physical evidence, and other “sufficient
independent corroboration” before allowing an investigation of a
sexual assault complaint to go forward.
Although corroboration has long been deemed unnecessary in
criminal courts for cases of sexual assault, recent state and
federal courts have ruled that colleges have no obligation to
provide the same standard of due process that students would
receive in a court of law if they were to report the offense to
local police.
Harvard announced its new policy after the faculty unanimously
approved it in May. According to Harvard Magazine, the
policy is the result of an investigation by Harry Lewis, Dean of
Harvard College, to “investigate a sharply increased number of
complaints of sexual assault.” Harvard responded to 7 complaints
of sexual assault in 2001, compared to 13 during the previous
decade.
Critics of Harvard's new policy believe it will achieve the
College’s desired objective to decrease sexual assault reports.
But they question the value of such a goal, as it seeks to
accomplish it by discouraging victims from coming forward.
A legal challenge, filed this summer by lawyer Wendy Murphy,
triggered a federal investigation, months before the policy was
to go into effect. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for
Civil Rights will determine whether the Harvard policy violates
Title IX, the federal law barring gender-based discrimination in
education, according to the Boston Globe.
Harvard’s new policy reverses the trend at other major colleges,
many of which have adopted policies to allow accusers to present
sexual assault cases even without concrete evidence. Such
policies have long been promoted by feminist groups and other
victim advocates, who argue that the cards are stacked against
the victim, particularly in cases of “acquaintance rape,” which
comprise the majority of campus sexual assaults, and for which
witnesses are simply not available.
In challenging the Harvard policy, Murphy told the Globe
that she hopes to head off the possibility of other colleges and
universities adopting the Harvard model.
Sources:
“Adjudicating Sexual Assault Cases,” Harvard Magazine,
July/August 2002
“Harvard to require more proof in sex cases,” Boston Globe,
May 8, 2002.
“US probe expected of Harvard policy on sexual assault,”
Boston Globe, August 6, 2002.
“Harvard Sex Policy Probed,” Associated Press, August 6,
2002.
“Facts about New Ad Board Procedure for Peer Disputes,”
Prepared by the Office of the Dean of Harvard College
“Information on Harvard College Procedures for Handling Student
Peer Disputes”
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Innovative Police Work Yields
Results: Miami-Dade Police Dept. Creates Award-Winning Sexual
Crimes Clearing House |
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The Miami-Dade Police Department
launched a project in July 1999 that attempted to fill a void in
intelligence sharing among local law enforcement agencies about
serial sex offenders. A little over two years later, the Sexual
Crimes Clearing House (SCCH) has generated numerous success
stories, increased cooperative efforts among South Florida law
enforcement agencies, and has been recognized as a model
program.
Housed within Miami-Dade PD’s Sexual Crimes Bureau, The SCCH is
a centralized intelligence entity that allows dozens of Florida
jurisdictions to share data about sex crimes. A data entry form
accepts information about the incident location and time, victim
characteristics, offender’s description, modus operandi (MO),
and a synopsis of the crime. A specific database was created to
track subjects of exposures and lewd and lascivious exhibitions.
The SCCH accepts sex crime data from any local agency and enters
this into one central database, increasing the likelihood of
identifying a serial offender. The objectives are the reduction
of sexual assaults and enhanced prosecution of sex offenders.
The SCCH significantly enhances shared communication between
police agencies by linking cross-jurisdictional cases and
encouraging networking and the sharing of viable leads by
hosting monthly intelligence meetings.
The SCCH is unique in that it not only assists in the identity
of subjects of sexual offenses that occur within the
jurisdiction of Miami-Dade PD, but also aids investigators from
30 other municipalities in Miami-Dade County. The SCCH also
works in conjunction with their neighboring counties; Monroe,
Broward, and Palm Beach.
“The SCCH is a great example of how cooperation can help solve
sex crimes,” said Joanne Archambault, founder and president of
Sexual Assault Training and Investigations (SATI). “DNA is an
amazing tool, but the reality is, you don’t always have forensic
evidence available,” she continued. “There is still so much room
for the sort of creative thinking and cooperation they’re doing
in South Florida, I hope we see more of it.”
The SCCH is staffed by one police sergeant, two intelligence
analysts, two police crime analyst specialists and one police
records specialist. The project was recently awarded the 2002
NACO Achievement Award and was recognized as a semi-finalist for
the IACP Webber Seavey Award. It has been nominated for the
Innovations in American Government and Rocky Pomerantz awards.
For further information about the SCCH, contact Sergeant Dehlia
Bailey at (305) 477-1112, ext. 289 or e-mail her at
dbailey@mdpd.com
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Miami-Dade Crime Lab Supports
Work of SCCH |
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The work of the Sexual Crimes
Clearing House (SCCH) is enhanced by the Miami-Dade Police
Department Crime Laboratory Bureau, which provides forensic
analysis of criminal cases for more than 30 local Police
Departments.
In 2001 alone, the laboratory had approximately 60 CODIS hits
that aided police in their investigations. Recently, the Crime
Laboratory and the SCCH have made a concerted effort to enhance
communication in order to have immediate notification when a
forensic hit is made through DNA analysis.
Another innovative program is their Volunteer Swab DNA Program.
Possible suspects are approached to voluntarily provide oral
reference standards. The subject signs a consent form and the
swabs are itemized and packaged for analysis by a laboratory
serologist. The samples are out-sourced to a private laboratory
and a case-working Criminalist at the Miami-Dade Crime
Laboratory reviews the data obtained. The DNA profiles are
maintained in an index of the Miami-Dade Forensic DNA database
where they are searched against DNA profiles obtained from
evidence submitted from other cases. For additional information,
contact Lesley Kenyon, DNA Specialist, at
lkenyon@mdpd.com.
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Boston Crime Lab Receives
Accreditation |
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The following DNA news item has
been reprinted with permission from DNA Legislation & News,
published by Smith Alling Lane, a government affairs firm that
provides nationwide governmental affairs services to Applied
Biosystems:
http://docs.appliedbiosystems.com/hid.taf
The Boston Police Crime Laboratory received national accreditation
(July 1, 2002) as officials launched an unprecedented effort to
identify hundreds of DNA profiles from sexual assault cases
without a suspect. Of the 1,000 sexual assault cases without a
suspect dating back to 1984, investigators believe they will be
able to test 250 for DNA profiles. The unit has already tested 15
cases and matched profiles to two convicted sexual offenders and
linked four assaults to the same identified person. The BPD lab
has linked suspects’ DNA profiles from Florida, Maine, Connecticut
and Virginia to crimes in Boston.
“Boston Police Crime Lab Gets Accreditation”, The Boston Herald,
July 2, 2002.
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San Diego Sex Crimes Unit
Posts New Documents to Website |
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Have you been tasked to create a protocol for drug facilitated
sexual assault or revise your policies and procedures for
responding to sexual assault in your community?
The San Diego Police Department's Sex Crimes Unit (SCU) and other
members of the San Diego County Sexual Assault Response Team have
developed numerous model programs over the last few decades that
have been recognized nationally. To assist other agencies, the San
Diego Police Department SCU has posted to its web site these and
other protocols and forms, including the Sex Crimes Unit's
Operations Manual, which can assist organizations responding to
sexual violence. To view these resources, please visit
http://www.ci.san-diego.ca.us/police/about/proresources.shtml
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Save the Date: |
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Third
International Conference on Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence and
Stalking: April 23-25, 2003, San Diego, California
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For a list of other scheduled
conferences and training events, please view the
Training Schedule. |
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>Back to
Resources Main Page |
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