Sarah Palin's rape kit controversy

Sarah Palin's rape kit controversy
Jim Tankersley
ABC26.com

When legislators run for president, they have to answer for every little vote they ever cast - yes, no or, er, present. When former mayors run for vice-president, we're learning this week, they have to answer for every policy in place in their town when they were in office.

Which brings us to the case of Sarah Palin and the town that charged victims for rape kits.

As Mary Pemberton of the Associated Press reports in a story headlined "Palin's town billed rape victims to get evidence":

When Sarah Palin was mayor of Wasilla, the city billed sexual assault victims and their insurance companies for the cost of rape kits and forensic examinations.

Palin had been in office for four years when the practice of charging rape victims got the attention of state lawmakers in 2000, who passed a bill to stop the practice.

Former Democratic Rep. Eric Croft, who sponsored that bill, said he was disappointed that simply asking the Wasilla police department to stop didn't work. Croft said he doubts she was unaware of the practice.

Maria Comella, a McCain-Palin campaign spokeswoman, said Palin "does not believe, nor has she ever believed, that rape victims should have to pay for an evidence-gathering test." To suggest otherwise, she said, is a "misrepresentation of her commitment to supporting victims and bringing violent criminals to justice."

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Sarah Palin's rape kit controversy