This may be the biggest FAIL of the month.
Here’s the run-down: A Louisiana Sexual Assault Task Force was created back in 2004 by the Louisiana Legislature. The 25-person task force was supposed to study who exactly was performing the forensic exams for sexual assault victims, as well as who was paying for those services.
The group was supposed to report back to the legislature in 2005, but that report got postponed to 2006. Then, the 2006 deadline got postponed to 2009. Then (we’re not making this up), that deadline got pushed back to 2012. And now, it’s 2014, and still the task force has done absolutely nothing.
All of this news comes as it was reported months ago that rape victims in the state were being billed for their examinations at hospitals. Since then, Gov. Jindal has issued executive orders which makes state funds for rape victims more accessible, so that their examinations are covered by the state.
Not by any surprise, when the individuals who were involved with the task force spoke with the Times Picayune, they passed the buck like pros.
Assistant Attorney General Emma Devillier, who chaired the task force, said that her agency had few resources to dedicate to the project, which was to be overseen by the Attorney General’s Office. When the original bill was being considered, Devillier’s office complained it was understaffed and asked legislators to allocate $76,700 to hire a new assistant attorney general and pay for travel and other expenses associated with task force operations, records show. Lawmakers rejected the request.
“It was really like giving someone a vehicle and then asking them to go from Louisiana to California and not giving them a motor,” Devillier said in a recent interview.
The group met monthly in 2005 from January until Aug. 26, Devillier said, the Friday before Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast and rearranged everyone’s priorities and lives.
Although the legislation states that the task force is to be housed in her department, Devillier said she all along considered it to be the work product of Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault — and she relied on that nonprofit advocacy group to finish the report, she said.
And here’s every entity that was on the task force:
The Louisiana District Attorneys Association
The Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual
The Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner/Sexual Assault Response Team (SANE/SART) program coordinator of the Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault
The Louisiana Sheriffs Association
The Louisiana Association of Chiefs of Police
The Louisiana District Judges Association
The Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Criminal Justice
The Louisiana Coroners Association
The Louisiana State Police Crime Laboratory
The Louisiana Association of Forensic Scientists
The Louisiana Hospitals Association
The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals
The Louisiana State Board of Nursing
The Louisiana CASA Association
The Louisiana Children’s Advocacy Center
The Louisiana Department of Social Services
The Louisiana Department of Social Services
The Child At Risk Evaluation Center at Children’s Hospital of New Orleans
The Louisiana Attorney General
The Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
The Louisiana State Police
The Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence
The Louisiana Juvenile Judges Association
A member of the Louisiana House of Representatives
A member of the Louisiana Senate
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