Why do statute of limitations exist for rape and sexual assault?

[cynatnite]

I just don't understand it.

[unblock]

1. complicated question.

maryland has apparently done away with statute of limitations on all violent felonies, so it's not the same in all jurisdictions.


i think the idea is to prevent government abuses by sitting on an accusation for ages. you have the right to a speedy trial, right there in the sixth amendment, to prevent government abuses by keeping a charge open and hanging over your head for ages. but then the government could simply delay charging you in the first place for ages and keep that dangling over your head for ages.


the problem with a statute of limitations is that that prevents not only government abuse by sitting on a known charge, it also prevents a late charge for something the government only just found out about.

so maybe best would be a rule where the government can bring a charge relating to an old incident but only if they can show that they have substantive recent evidence.

[meadowlander]

5. It seems like you could address the potential for government abuse though

by limiting the amount of time prosecutors have to bring charges once the victim comes forward instead of limiting the amount of time that the victim has to decide if they want to press charges or not.

[unblock]

7. exactly what i'm trying to get at

by requiring "substantive recent evidence" -- by which i mean to include a victim's statement.

[marylandblue]

2. SOLs are because evidence gets lost, memories get fuzzy, witnesses move

Say you get accused of shoplifting something 10 years ago. They have a video of you walking out with the item. You don't remember being there, the cashier is long gone, and you threw away the receipt years ago. See the problem?

[Brother Buzz]

3. It varies from state to state

https://www.rainn.org/state-state-guide-statutes-limitations

[WillowTree]

4. The passage of time.......

.......can make it increasingly difficult for prosecutors to gather and validate evidence and equally difficult for an innocent accused person to defend him/herself.

[OliverQ]

6. They don't in Maryland which is where Kavanaugh committed his high school crimes.

[cynatnite]

8. I don't like it...

You can be emotionally destroyed by an attack, be too afraid or ashamed to tell anyone. Yet, when you finally do there is a statute of limitations and you can be victimized all over again by a cruel public and media.

[Cousin Dupree]

9. Because the mostly male legislators are so separated

from the reality of what sexual abuse victims go through. And/or don't give a shit.

[bobbieinok]

10. In PA the Catholic hierarchy is working hard to block any extension of the SOL

I've seen discussions of this at the blog Catholic4Change (run by 2 Catholic women in Philadelphia).

And in 1 post at the blog slacktivist at patheos. (He lives in PA and reported that friends attending mass were given prepared postcards to send to their legislators asking them not to extend the SOL.)

Cynical observation--settling claims of clergy sex abuse victims has been very expensive for the church. The number of victims in the recent report and the massive numbers calling the state hotline are very bad news for the church.