MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A bill that would require the state of Tennessee to test all rape kits within 30 days after receipt is making its way through the House after passing the in Criminal Justice Committee on Tuesday, Feb. 28.
SB0014's significant progress happens just two days before the final hearing in the class action lawsuit Janet Doe v. The City of Memphis, where Tennessee rape victims accuse the city of failing to test more than 12,000 DNA rape kits.
On Friday, Feb. 24, attorneys representing rape victims in the case requested that the judge declare the city to be "liable by summary means" ahead of the hearing, which is scheduled for Thursday, March 2.
If ruled in favor of the victims, the lawsuit will hold the City of Memphis responsible for "recklessly inflicting emotional distress" of the many rape victims, Attorney Daniel Lofton said. Attorneys Lofton and Gary K. Smith represent the victims in the case.
More significantly, this is not the first time a bill requiring the state to conduct faster testing and processing of rape kits has been proposed.
Tennessee Rep. Antonio Parkinson reportedly filed and advocated for a similar legislation in 2014, but the bill was shot down for "financial reasons".
According to Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, it currently takes 34 weeks or more for a rape kit to be tested and results returned to the requesting law enforcement department.
Recognition of the extreme need for faster processing of rape kit testing was taken after the murder of St. Mary's elementary school teacher Eliza Fletcher.
Fletcher was kidnapped while taking her regular morning run on September 2, 2022, and her body was found three days later in high grasses next to a home in South Memphis.
Fletcher's tragedy gained national attention, and the state quickly received ridicule after it was discovered that Cleotha Henderson, the man charged for Fletcher's kidnapping and murder, was previously accused of rape in 2021.
Alicia Franklin, the victim who says Henderson raped her on September 21, 2021, was still waiting for rape kit DNA test results to be completed nearly a year after the rape occurred.
Ironically, the positive DNA test results from the rape kit, confirming that Henderson's DNA matched semen that was collected from Franklin's rape kit, were returned on September 5, 2022, which is the same day Fletcher's body was found.
If Franklin's rape kit testing was completed sooner, it is likely that Henderson would have still been in jail, which would have kept him from making the alleged violent attack that resulted in Fletcher's death.
Now with quick feet and a sense of heightened urgency, despite several other women who reported incidents of rape and sexual assault well before Fletcher's murder, state representatives like House Rep. Parkinson are pleading that Tennessee legislation makes its wrongs right.
“I’m hopeful that we can continue to move this legislation forward. Our missteps, such as that of not passing legislation like this in 2014, has had a tremendous negative impact on many lives in our state,” Parkinson said.
The current bill working through legislation is sponsored by Rep. Parkinson, who represents District 98 parts of Shelby County and Cordova, and Sen. London Lamar, who represents District 33 of Shelby County.
The bill now continues on to the Government Operations Committee next week.