Bills to bring Mississippi rape laws into 21st Century move to Senate

Two measures geared toward serving to rape survivors get justice have unanimously handed the state Home and are earlier than the Senate, the place they had been killed and not using a vote final 12 months.

However Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, who oversees the Senate, on Wednesday voiced help for the measures, which may assist their probabilities significantly.

“The lieutenant governor helps the payments and is encouraging the chairmen to convey them out of committee,” mentioned spokeswoman Leah Rupp Smith.

Home Invoice 485, authored by Rep. Angela Cockerham, I-Magnolia, would standardize the dealing with, well timed testing and monitoring of sexual assault proof or “rape kits” in Mississippi. Not like 36 different states, Mississippi has no statewide guidelines and advocates say there’s a giant — albeit unknown as a result of lack of monitoring — backlog of unprocessed rape kits. It might additionally give survivors the best to know the standing of their kits.

Home Invoice 995, authored by Rep. Dana McLean, R-Columbus, would take away archaic, misogynistic language from the 1800s from Mississippi’s rape and sexual battery legal guidelines and take away a spousal protection for many who commit marital rape. The invoice would make clear the definition and components of rape and sexual assault, changing passages resembling “assault with the intent to forcibly ravish a feminine of beforehand chaste character.”

Sandy Middleton, director of the Middle for Violence Prevention, mentioned, “Mississippi has a backlog of rape circumstances, but it surely’s not on the crime lab. The kits are sitting in hospital emergency room fridges or the trunk of police cruisers.”

Middleton and different advocates mentioned statistics are scant, however one overview confirmed that from 2019 via 2021, solely 20 rapes had been prosecuted in Mississippi. Whereas there are issues discovering statistics on reported rapes, one nationwide report mentioned Mississippi had 1,148 reported circumstances in 2020.

A 2019 Related Press report mentioned that on the time there was a backlog of 600 rape kits that had not been DNA examined.

Middleton mentioned a Jackson space hospital lately reported that it had 50 rape kits in a fridge awaiting regulation enforcement to choose them up, and a few had been there for a 12 months and a half. Of these, 15 had been from circumstances the place kids had been raped.

Apart from lack of testing of proof, Mississippi’s antiquated rape legal guidelines hinder prosecution.

McLean mentioned she believes many prosecutors use the state’s sexual battery legal guidelines as an alternative of the rape statute with harsher penalties as a result of the latter’s language is so antiquated.

READ MORE: Lawmaker continues bid to take away archaic, misogynistic language from state rape, sexual battery legal guidelines

McLean’s invoice would delete language within the regulation that claims an individual wouldn’t be responsible of rape or sexual battery if the alleged sufferer was the defendant’s authorized partner on the time of the offense and the couple isn’t separated and residing aside. It might additionally change regulation that mentioned a authorized partner could also be discovered responsible of sexual battery if the partner engaged in forcible penetration with out the consent of the alleged sufferer. McLean mentioned as a result of present regulation makes use of language resembling “forcible” and “consent,” this may very well be used as a protection if a partner was incapacitated, resembling handed out drunk or on medication.

Though for the reason that early Nineties each state acknowledges marital rape as a criminal offense, some together with Mississippi nonetheless have legal guidelines on the books that both present safety for the perpetrator or lesser penalties. 

Each payments lately handed the Home unanimously. However they each handed the Home overwhelmingly final 12 months as nicely, solely to die in Senate committee.

Advocates supporting the payments, flanked by a number of Home and Senate lawmakers, held a press convention on the measures on Wednesday. They mentioned Senate Judiciary A Chairman Brice Wiggins, who’s been assigned the rape package invoice, has labored with them and appeared supportive. Wiggins didn’t reply to a request for touch upon Wednesday.

Home Invoice 995 to take away archaic and misogynistic language and a spousal rape protection from the regulation has been assigned once more to Senate Judiciary B Chairman Joey Fillingane’s committee. Final 12 months, after he let the invoice die and not using a vote in his committee, Fillingane mentioned he agreed with the invoice’s intent, however mentioned there have been quite a few payments in each chambers geared toward altering rape and assault legal guidelines. He mentioned he needed to have hearings out of session and make sweeping modifications as an alternative of getting a number of completely different payments.

Fillingane on Wednesday was noncommittal on whether or not he would take the invoice up for a vote in committee this 12 months, solely that, “We’re actually it and learning it.” He mentioned he has not had hearings or drafted sweeping modifications to rape and assault legal guidelines, however is doing such work with different older state code. He mentioned the rape code McLean’s invoice goals to replace “could be very outdated and the entire part is in want of a revision.”

Advocates on Wednesday mentioned rape survivors need justice and need to know the standing of testing of their case.