The Official Newspaper for Foster County
The Official Newspaper for Foster County
Even though the laws relating to rape have not been repealed, victims are not getting justice in the present system. Administratively, rape gets no priority.
Right now, North Dakota has 271 rape cases – doubled since December 21, 2021 – gathering dust because the criminal justice machinery has shoved rape cases to the back burner where nothing happens for months.
Gov. Doug Burgum could hardly wait for the legislature to meet so he could rush through funding for business development – even borrow the money from the Bank of North Dakota. But there was no dispatch to pursue the 271 rape cases.
In next biennium’s budget, every nook and cranny in government will get gobs of money but many of the unprocessed rape cases will go untouched even with an ordinary appropriations that won’t be available for several months. As of January 1, there was no request for an emergency appropriation to tackle the aging rape cases.
Rape cases have a short life and require immediate action. We see nothing but delay from the outset.
According to RAINN (Rape, Abuse Incest National Network), only one-third of rapes are reported. For good reason. If victims saw rape cases being pushed back and pushed back, they would see the futility of reporting the crime.
Rape victims gave a variety reasons for not reporting – 20% feared retaliation, 13% believed the police wouldn’t do anything. Many live in fear after the rape. Out of every 1,000 sexual assaults, 975 perpetrators will walk free.
Forum Publications Reporter April Baumgarten quoted Attorney General Drew Wrigley as saying that budget cuts back to 2017 have prevented adequate staffing for crime lab in Wrigley’s agency.
To excuse the failure to act quickly on rape cases, the present state officials are pointing fingers at the late Wayne Stenehjem who is unable to defend himself or his reputation. The fault rests on the budget-cutters who were spending oil money on every other endeavor except rape cases.
Allegedly, under funding the crime lab has been the main defense but there are more failures along the line.
First, the lack of reporting by victims. Second, county prosecutors have private legal businesses on the side so an hour on a rape case pays nothing while private practice hours are billable. Third, the courts are too willing to grant defense lawyers extensions. Defense lawyers are permitted to run the system. Fourth, sentences are insufficient. The punishment never equals the crime.
It’s a men’s deal all around. For them, sex is nothing because they are basically philanderers. On the other hand, rape is so traumatic for women that they lose their self-worth and even consider suicide. Many feel like spoiled merchandise that affect relationships for the rest of their lives.
Governments are created to protect the safety of their citizens and North Dakota is falling on its face. It is time for this male-dominated society to protect not only property crimes but personal crimes as well.
It is time to fund the crime lab so cases can be handled expeditiously. The U. S. Constitution guarantees a speedy trial. It seems that North Dakota should be able to do the same when it is floating in money. If the state and local governments fail to honor this safety covenant with rape victims, they ought to be penalized by grants of at least $100,000 to victims in cases not resolved within a month.
It is not unusual to see agencies administer and delay laws with which they disagree. But rape destroys lives and warrants hard-nosed enforcement from top to bottom.
Every woman in North Dakota who has been raped should write to the Attorney General, State Capitol, Bismarck 58505 and demand action. Even women who have not been raped should write.
