But, to be fair, she's a fiscal conservative. Which is why she, as Governor, charged the state for her and her family's per diem travel expenses while staying at home.

I'm having trouble finding out how much power the mayor would have over what is being presented as a police department decision. In my town, at least, the mayor does not have the ability to over ride the chief of police on a department policy decision. The city council would be able to call for his firing, but that would be the limit of the power. That's just my town, I'm sure it differs locally.

Also, if you read the article it never states that a victim was ever charged. The police chief says that insurance companies were charged. You could argue that the policy holder pays in the long run when charged for tests, but there just doesn't seem to be a maliciousness here. Instead, it seems the police chief saw that his department could pay for a medical test or the victim's insurance could pay the medical test.

There seems to be some key information missing that I would personally need before passing judgement on this: how much authority, if any, did Palin have to change this policy (she was mayor, not god), and how many victims (not insurance companies) were charged?

If the answer is none and none, it is a non-issue. If there are different answers, it is shoddy reporting not to include them.

She's a disgusting human being. How many women can honestly afford $1200 for a rape kit? And how souless and spiritually bankrupt do you have to be to even consider charging women for this?

I am utterly enraged. Thank goodness the mayor after her changed the policy. I wonder how many women in her town went without the rape kit because they couldn't afford it...

Sarah Palin is an embarrassment to women. She doesn't deserve to have a vagina.

What about women without insurance? I'm sure they weren't paying $1200 for a rape kit which *might* help them catch the rapist (but usually doesn't because of lack of follow-through). Especially if they can't afford health insurance.

So, if no one was charged, I would venture a guess that was because only women with insurance were getting them; therefore, their insurance payed for them while women without insurance went without.

nestra - well if palin didnt have the power to change policy as the chief executive of a town, she needs to stop touting her executive experience.

and as far as "well no one got hurt by this crappy law" it's just like southern states still having laws against mixed race marriages or homosexuality. maybe getting rid of them may simply be seen as a symbolic gesture as they havent been practiced in ages, but it shows where the heart of the city/state is.

and you have republican leaders hemming and hawing about the additional expense being passed to the taxpayer. cause i guess taxpayers would rather have rapists on the street than pay a few extra dollars a year.

And I'll betcha insurance companies will be balking at covering rape kits, real soon folks. Oops, the woman was drinking? Coverage for rape kit, denied.

Courtney,

That link re: her Democratic successor's overturning of the policy takes us to the original article about the police chief. Is there a link to the article about Palin's successor?

(Also, from a quick Google search, it looks like her successor as mayor of Wasilla was Diane Keller, is a Republican).

Nestra, considering the day & age we live in, in America, I find your logic troubling and faulty.

A lot of scary laws have been put into place in the last 7 years. And sure, I'll probably never be arrested under suspicion of terrorism and be legally arrested without being read my rights, or told why, being denied the right to contact an attorney or have my family notified of my detention. Or...I most likely will never require a late term (*ahem* "Partial Birth") abortion , that now would be considered criminal...

Even though these changes to law may not actually affect me, the fact that they merely exist is scary enough. The fact that Palin would insist that the state NOT pay for a test that would help aid in the capture of a violent (most likely repeating) criminal against women, shows her disdain & apathy for her fellow, less-wealthy-than-she, woman. And it clearly shows what kind of shitty VP she'd be.

And once again I agree with Spike. If this became a matter for insurance companies to deal with, how many of them would really pay for it, if they found any way at all to justify not paying for it? Rape victims get violated and blamed enough as it is. Let's give them a free shot at justice, mkay?

Is there any other crime where it would be in the least bit acceptable to force the victim to pay for the investigation? Disgusting.

I think it was the Democratic governor of 2000 who signed the bill to reverse this, and the police chief of Wasilla (who Palin had hired) was arguing against it because he claimed it was an undue hardship to the taxpayer -- to pay for investigating a crime! Palin was mayor at the time the bill was signed reversing the practice.

Nestra-

It's still not ok to charge the insurance companies for a rape kit--it's PART OF THE FORENSIC INVESTIGATION. As wax_ghost said, no other crime forces the victim to pay for the investigation.

And just in case anyone else is wondering, the 2005 re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act explicitly forbids doing what Palin did before it was passed. A quote from the Office of Violence Against Women:

"The Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005 (“VAWA 2005”), 42 U.S.C. § 3796gg-4(d), provides that states may not “require a victim of sexual assault to participate in the criminal justice system or cooperate with law enforcement in order to be provided with a forensic medical exam, reimbursed for charges incurred on account of such an exam, or both[]” (the “VAWA 2005 forensic examination requirement”). Under this provision a state must ensure that victims have access to an exam free of charge or with full reimbursement, even if the victim chooses not to report the crime to the police or otherwise cooperate with the criminal justice system or law enforcement authorities. Prior to VAWA 2005, states were required to ensure access to such exams free of charge or with full reimbursement but could condition the exams on cooperation with law enforcement."

http://www.ovw.usdoj.gov/docs/faq-arfe052308.pdf

Really interesting. Does anybody know how often women are made to pay for their own rape kits? Given the victim-blaming that goes on everywhere, I guess I wouldn't be surprised if this is not an isolated case (not that that in ANY way excused Sarah Palin from not doing anything about it). Just curious - thanks for posting this!

AARRRG! Just when I think I couldn't get any more disgusted with this VP pick something like this comes out. But of course Palin is a feminist...you know cause the corporate media says so. uggggh

Courtney - I am a Wasilla resident, and you need to make some quick corrections.

Palin was succeeded by her close friend, Diane Keller, as mayor of Wasilla. Keller is more of a hardcore fundamentalist Republican than Palin is, if you can believe it. Wasilla has not elected a Democrat for a while, and probably will not for a while.

Tony Knowles was governor of Alaska of 1994 to 2002. He is the Democratic hero in the article you link to.

Charlie Fannon is the police chief in the article, still shouting that the city should not pay for rape kits. It should be of interest that in most elections where he is running (borough assembly, whatever), Sarah Palin stumps HARD for Charlie Fannon.

According to the article quoted, it was the Democratic Governor, in 2000, that changed the law.

http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2000/05/23/news.txt

"ANCHORAGE - Gov. Tony Knowles recently signed legislation protecting victims of sexual assault from being billed for tests to collect evidence of the crime, but one local police chief said the new law will further burden taxpayers.

The governor signed House Bill 270, sponsored by Rep. Eric Croft, D-Anchorage, outside the Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) exam room at Alaska Regional Hospital. In attendance at the signing were members of victims advocate groups, law enforcement agencies and legislators.

The new law makes it illegal for any law enforcement agency to bill victims or victims insurance companies for the costs of examinations that take place to collect evidence of a sexual assault or determine if a sexual assault did occur."

Also, in most Cities, the Mayor is part of the City Council, which oversees and approves the budgets, so she would have had the power to effect change in that area, if she wanted to. But not by herself. (Again, this is assuming that this municipality runs like most others, with each Council Member, and the Mayor, voting on these issues).

Of all the things I have heard about Palin--the awful stances of choice, the environment, and the war--this one, for some reason, hits the hardest.

This is disgusting. To charge a rape victim to have a rape kit, that, lets be honest, already costs her enough, is despicable.

What other crime would require a victim to pay financially to prosecute her offender?

Is someone going to do a Fuck You Friday to Palin soon? Cuz it needs to happen.

Is it ok to stop calling her a feminist now? Or is this just another "choice?"

that's it..... i'm officially afraid of this woman and for every woman who has been and may be affected by her dealings with Rape cases.

head for the hills.

Imagine yourself a poor, young college students, scared to death because you've been through the worst experience of your life, can you count on Sarah Palin to stand on your side?

The more I hear about Palin, the more I don't mind busting my ass working 14 hours a day to beat her. This woman, if elected, is going to break through her own glass ceiling while leaving everyone else behind ...

Is it misogynistic to hate Sarah Palin for who she is?

Marc

marc, if you ever wonder whether a reaction you have is misogynistic, just imagine what your reaction would be if it were a man doing whatever it is you're reacting to.

Meg, good call! That's fucking awesome! The best advice I've heard.

interesting. Reading closely, in Wasilla, it said that the victim's insurance company was billed.

Illinois reimburses the victim if they don't have insurance.

I think it's actually better if the hospital bills the insurance company than to have to pay out of pocket and then hope to get reimbursed. jmho.

Has anyone asked Sarah Palin her opinion? Did she ever comment on it pro or con? Did she even know it was going on?

If that was statewide policy while she was mayor of a town, did she have the juice to change it?

Saying "insurance companies reimburse" just adds insult and more injury.

First, what if the woman does not have the money to pay up front while waiting (perhaps many weeks) for reimbursement? What is her deductible? Copay? Most insurance companies have an annual maximum. If the woman has previously had serious health problems and is over the limit, the insurance company does not pay. And what if the insurance company decides it's not medically necessary? Does a rape victim also have to spend months or years battling the insurance company?

As others have said, the victim of a burglary does not have to pay for having fingerprints taken, for for police to canvass pawnshops for missing items. It's considered part of civilized society for law enforcement to investigate a crime. The individual paying for enforcement is literally a relic of feudalism.

Just another way of making rape "different" from any other crime.

It seems to me that there are some important questions to be answered about this matter:

1) Is Wasilla the ONLY city/town (it had only about 5000 people when Palin was mayor) in Alaska where raped women were charged the cost of rape kits?

2) Was this practice in place BEFORE Palin took office as mayor and/or was it INSTITUTED BY PALIN or by her selected chief of police? (Remember, she fired the previous police chief because he "intimidated" her.)

These two points are important if blame is to be placed where it correctly belongs.

I might add that I think I know the answers to both questions; however, the story in the "Frontiersman" implies that the bill proposed by the state legislature and signed by the governor was a reaction to the practice but it does not state the circumstances explicitly nor does it explicitly blame Palin or her appointed police chief. There's just a little too much wiggle room between implication and hard cold fact.

We linked to this in our post "Why Sarah Palin is Bad for American Women" at the CA NOW blog: http://www.canow.org/canoworg/2008/09/why-sarah-palin.html

A bit more comment about Palin and her brand of conservatism:

When she took office as mayor in Wasilla, the town had relatively low property taxes and no debt; by the time she left office, both property taxes and sales taxes had been raised and the town was indebted to the tune of $22,000,000.00 -- plus, it was (and still is) embroiled in a legal controversy over the ownership and sale price of the land on which Palin built a sports complex.

The governor's jet, which Palin so famously "sold" on eBay, didn't sell: she ended up dropping the listing and the plane was ultimately sold to one of her supporters for 90% of its value.

The bridge to nowhere which Palin is currently against and claims to have blocked was only dropped from her agenda after it proved to be an embarrassment in the national press. Plus, SHE KEPT THE MONEY. And if she is so all-fired against the bridge, WHY is she building the access roads for it? (Yes, they ARE being built as we blog.)

Then there are the multiple personal vendettas -- not just the one at the center of trooper-gate. Disagree with her and you're out on your a$$; cross one of her friends and you're out on your a$$.

Based on all I read, Palin appears the epitome of an unthinking, unfeeling, bigoted, hypocritical, vindictive, fundamentalist. I guess that makes her a fit replacement for Cheney and right at home on the McBush/Cain 3rd term ticket.

In this story, the only people who cared about women were the male governor who outlawed the practice of charging women for the rape kit and the male police chief (not Wasilla's) who said he would rather pay out of pocket himself than charge the victim. Just in case anyone still needed proof that just *being* a woman doesn't mean you automatically *care* about other women. Thank you, Sarah, for reminding us that feminism isn't about genitals.

"Feminism isn't about genitals!" I want a shirt that says that!

Ways to make being raped worse:

-- Wait until the survivor is starting to get back to normal and then....

CHARGE THEM FOR BEING RAPED!

You know what's really stressful? Getting back on your feet after you've been raped. There are already a lot of financial, emotional, and physical burdens associated with it, and you totally need add to that by getting warning letters from the hospital about unpaid bills and/or having to harangue your insurance company about it!

Luckily, in some areas, there are government assistance programs specifically designed to help you get out of those ruts. But I don't believe that they are ubiquitous, which means that this behavior is disgusting.

Sexist. Do people who are mugged have to pay for the gas in the officer's cars to run down the thief? Do attempted murder victims have to pay for hair and blood tests from the attacker?

Now, I've not read the comments above, but I'd like a more detailed report as to how much Palin in the role of mayor influenced this practice.

Let's not forget that JOE BIDEN, the Democratic VP candidate, was responsible for the initial Violence Against Women act in 1994. It wasn't until 2005 that it became illegal to charge a woman for investigating a crime against her. Democrat Tony Knowles, then Governor of Alaska, outlawed the practice in 2000 (I believe).

There are tons of links to what Joe Biden has done for women. You can google it yourself.

Compare what he's been doing for 26 years in the Senate to what the Palin has been up to. There is no comparison.

I just checked Wikipedia about the Violence Against Women Act, and I'm proud of Joe Biden for sponsoring this bill. One thing gave me chills, though:

"VAWA will be up for reauthorization in 2010."

This election just got even scarier for me.

I apologize for my crudeness, but this makes me want to throw up on her.

This woman is more terrifying than McCain. I honestly don't think she has any ethics or morality.

Joe Biden - Hero! Joe abouts Joe's accomplishements for women and all Americans!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/08/us/politics/08campaign.html?ref=politics

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/23/AR2008082302200.html

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Story?id=5670703&page=1

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/09/biden.special.needs/

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1835478,00.html

Go Joe! Make us proud!
Happy reading.

MSM and Sarah Palin.......

Find out the truth about Sarah Palin at

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/sliming_palin.html

Pitiful.

Obama/Biden team attack, attack, attack, Palen and Americans react.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/09092008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/how_obama_blew_it_128132.htm

Sarah....

She can kill with a smile
She can wound with with her eyes
She can ruin Obama's chances
By revealing his lies
She can take care of herself
She is ahead of her time
She never gives in
She will just change your mind

Obama will promise to
Give you the Garden of Eden
And then raise your taxes
And laugh while you're bleeding
As a governor and mayor
Sarah Palin has earned her degree
Blame it all on yourself
She’s always a woman to me

See well known Feminist Susan Estrich's article on Sarah Palin.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/uc/20080903/cm_uc_crsesx/op_397259

Moni, do you not have anything to say about the actual subject matter of this post? Did you even read it?

Regarding some of the questions -

"Did this happen under Sarah's rule?"

This is very difficult to find out, since there isn't much data on the internet to see the policies on rape kits before Sarah was mayor. Someone would have to personally ask Irl Stambaugh (former police chief, quickly terminated by Palin).

HOWEVER. Wasilla did not establish a police department until 1993, which means prior to that we would have fallen under the umbrella of the Alaska State Troopers. Since troopers cover the cost of rape kits, it would have been a change. It may or may not have been established during Sarah's mayoral term, but certainly during her city council years.

"Is Wasilla the only city that charges women for rape kits?"

In the Frontiersman article, they point out that most municipalities in Alaska, and the troopers, cover the cost. Alaska State Troopers will cover most small towns.

Please note - this is a VERY important issue for Alaska - we have one of the highest rape rates in the nation. The rape rate in Alaska is 3 times the national average. Additionally, Wasilla is a relatively poor town - most of the women suffering from rape would probably not be able to cover the cost of the rape kit, and very likely would not have insurance.