Dear Congressman Hal Rogers & Senator Barbara Mikulski,
Team Ronan, and all those who’ve signed this letter, are asking you to address a major crisis: the nationwide rape kit backlog. The National Institute of Justice estimates 400,000 rape kits are sitting on a shelf—ignored and untested. Each represents a potential rapist walking free, and a victim without justice.
Memphis, for instance, is at the top of the list with more than 12,000 backlogged. We met a young woman there who was raped in 2003. Her kit went untested for nine years; the DNA inside was finally linked to a neighborhood rapist after she demanded authorities reopen her case in 2012. Her attacker was a serial rapist. He is now serving 178 years behind bars for the rape of seven Memphis area women and girls – six, including the rape of a 12-year-old girl, happened while Meaghan’s kit sat untested.
Memphis has since reformed its policy to test rape kits. But one daunting problem remains: a lack of funding.









