Search results
Nov 3, 2023 · The reauthorization of the Debbie Smith Act of 2023 will provide grants to state and local public crime laboratories to build capacity to analyze DNA samples in evidence kits. The Debbie Smith Act was last reauthorized in 2019 and expires this fiscal year.
Founder of H-E-A-R-T and sexual assault survivor. An interview with Debbie Smith, a sexual assault survivor, the founder of H-E-A-R-T (Hope Exists after Rape Trauma), and a longtime advocate for the elimination of DNA testing backlogs.
The Debbie Smith DNA Backlog Grant Program provides funding to support public crime laboratories’ work to build capacity and process DNA evidence, including evidence collected in rape kits. Since its enactment in 2004, the Debbie Smith Act has been renewed twice with overwhelming bipartisan support.
Sep 6, 2019 · Today Debbie Smith, a survivor and advocate, alongside RAINN, the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, held a press conference announcing delivery of over 32,000 signatures from citizens across the nation urging Congress to pass the Debbie Smith Act when it returns next week.
Sep 7, 2019 · DNA evidence untested for years. Evidence finally tested, suspect identified and convicted. Her story helped inspire the federal Debbie Smith Act, first passed in 2004, to provide funding for...
Dec 31, 2019 · The Debbie Smith Crime Victims Protection Act reauthorizes the Debbie Smith Act to continue the testing of DNA evidence, including rape kits, from unsolved crimes nationwide, DNA training and education for law enforcement, correctional personnel, and court officers, and the Sexual Assault Forensic Exam Program, which supports forensic nurse ...
Feb 16, 2023 · The Debbie Smith Act was originally signed into law in 2004 to provide local and state crime laboratories resources to end the backlog of untested DNA evidence from unsolved crimes, analyze DNA samples, and increase the capacity to process DNA in order to guard against future backlogs.
