On June 21, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved, by voice vote, the Justice for All Reauthorization Act of 2011 (S. 250).
The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), would reauthorize through FY2016 the Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program at the current funding level of $151 million. The program is intended to reduce backlogs in DNA testing of evidence from criminal cases, including sexual assault cases, by providing funding for laboratories to test and analyze DNA. The reauthorization also would allow grant funding from the program to go towards law enforcement personnel and prosecutors to assist in reducing DNA backlogs.
The measure would require the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to establish an official definition of “backlog” for the purposes of DNA evidence collection, processing, and testing. The NIJ also would be required to develop best practice protocols for the collection of DNA evidence and to provide states and localities with technical assistance to implement the new protocols.
Grant recipients would be required to report statistics on the size of their DNA test backlog to the NIJ, who would then be required to publish the data. The statistics must include the percentage of grant funds that went to reducing the backlog of DNA testing in sexual assault cases.
The bill would include provisions to protect victims of sexual assault from paying for the cost of forensic medical exams. Additionally, government entities would be required to coordinate with local health care providers to notify sexual assault victims when free rape kits are available.
The legislation also would reauthorize the Kirk Bloodsworth Post-Conviction DNA Testing Grant Program, which provides funding to states to help defray the costs of post-conviction DNA testing. The program would receive $10 million annually, an increase of $5 million per year above current funding levels. Currently, post-conviction DNA testing is allowed only in criminal proceedings for death penalty cases, but the reauthorization expands eligibility to cases other than death penalty cases.
