Are We Limiting Justice?

limonwhitaker.com’s image of a gavel smashing a clock

Have you heard the news that an estimated 400,000 rape kits are sitting untested here in the U.S.?

Watch this “Rape kits go untested for decades” news report by CNN’s Randi Kaye.

After first viewing the segment, I felt angry. I also felt empathy for the two rape victims who were interviewed in the piece as well as thousands of other rape victims who have been hurt by the described negligence and injustice of the U.S. legal system. Last, I was appalled by the fact that varying U.S. state statute of limitations laws applying to rape cases are allowing known rapists to walk free after committing their crimes.

According to about.com, a statute of limitations is “the time limit the law puts on police and prosecutors to lay charges in a crime” and is “put in place in order to ensure that people are swiftly brought to justice by police and to allow people to move on with their lives without fear of past deeds coming back to get them after they have reformed themselves.”  Also according to the site, murder and treason are the only crimes for which statutes of limitations do not apply.

What do you think?  Do you think that U.S. states should have the right to create statutes of limitations for misdemeanor or felony rape cases?

It seems that if the status quo for rape case statutes of limitations continues in our country, more bad deeds will go unpunished.

Yes, maybe it’s time to change some laws, and maybe it’s time to unlimit justice for U.S. victims of rape.