Mother Jones

Darrell Rea is about to be sentenced for the murder he committed 36 years ago. But the rape cases that helped bring him to justice will never be charged.

More than 20 states have passed a cascade of laws in the past few years requiring mandatory testing of old or new rape kits, audits of untested evidence, or notification systems for survivors to keep track of their kits, according to the Joyful Heart Foundation, an organization that advocates for sexual assault survivors.