Tennessee’s two U.S. senators have introduced legislation that would speed up the process of analyzing sexual assault kits after Memphis teacher Eliza Fletcher was abducted and killed by a habitual offender two weeks ago.
“United States Senators Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) introduced the Restoring Law and Order Act in response to the violence plaguing communities across America,” according to a joint press release. “Compared to mid-2019, America’s largest cities have seen a 50% increase in homicides and a 36% increase in aggravated assaults. In Tennessee, Memphis has experienced a series of shockingly violent crimes.”
The law will provide federal grants to local law enforcement for the purpose of hiring more law enforcement officers, detaining and deporting more illegal aliens, and reforming pretrial detention laws that the senators believe are too weak.
The bill also specifically addresses rape kits.
It will require the federal government to “study the deficiencies in processing rape kits and availability of the test kits” and give local law enforcement funding to “eliminate investigatory backlogs and more-quickly process criminal evidence.”
Blackburn also specifically addressed rape kits.
She said:
“We need to increase funding for law enforcement, root out weak on crime prosecutors and judges, and keep violent criminals locked up. Senator Hagerty and I are introducing the Restoring Law and Order Act to ensure state and local law enforcement agencies have the resources needed to combat violent crime and improve the processing of DNA evidence such as rape kits. It is sad that in Washington, Democrats have made heroes out of criminals and turned police officers into villains. The defund the police movement is demanding compassion for criminals, but not their innocent victims. Senator Hagerty and I believe we must fund, not defund, the police and are proud to Back the Blue. This legislation will provide much-needed resources to our brave law enforcement officers so they can hunt down violent criminals and keep Tennesseans safe.”
Cleotha Abston, the man charged in Fletcher’s murder, had spent nearly two decades behind bars for a previous kidnapping.
After he was released, he allegedly continued his pattern of behavior as a predator, including a 2021 alleged sexual assault of an as-yet-unidentified woman.
The sexual assault kit, which matched Abston’s DNA, was not processed until just after Abston allegedly kidnapped and murdered Fletcher.
Had it been processed sooner, it is possible that Abston would have been off the streets, and that Fletcher would still be alive.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty” by Bill Hagerty.
