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Joyful Heart in the News
Minnesota's rape kit reform bill becomes law as Duluth passes a milestone on its backlog
In Minnesota's most ambitious effort to process untested rape kits, the Duluth Police Department has eliminated its entire backlog and submitted 415 kits for laboratory testing, a step that could open the door to justice for scores of sexual assault victims.
The kits, sitting in storage for as long as 25 years, were inventoried in 2015 after the Legislature ordered a one-time audit of all untested kits held by law enforcement agencies across the state. Departments reported more than 3,400 untested kits; Duluth had the most, with more than 550.
Ilse Knecht, policy director for the Joyful Heart Foundation and the End the Backlog campaign in New York, praised Dayton Monday for signing the state's new law. But ultimately, she said, states should aim for laws that have no such carve-outs.
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