I'll tell you why I could never vote for a ticket with Sarah Palin's name on it.
She's responsible for policies in Wasilla that charged rape victims for their rape kits.
While mayor of Wasilla from 1996 - 20002, she fired the police chief, Irl Stambaugh, and put in her choice of police chief, Charlie Fannon. Up until 2000, the law in Alaska was so that rape victims had to pay for rape kits used in investigations.
The governor in 2000, Tony Knowles, passed a new law that did not require rape victims to pay for the kits. He stated that "we don't charge robbery victims the cost of dusting for prints, so why would be charge rape victims the cost of gathering evidence to apprehend their assailant?"
Wasilla's new police chief, Fannon, apparently did not agree with the new legislation, saying the law will require the city and communities to come up with more funds to cover the costs of the forensic exams.
"In the past we've charged the cost of exams to the victim's insurance company when possible," Fannon said. "I just don't want to see any more burden put on the taxpayer."
He said requiring the police department to pay for rape kits, including sexually transmitted disease testing and emergency contraception, would cost $5,000 to $14,000 a year. Fannon said he would like to see the courts force criminals to pay restitution to rape victims – rather than passing the charge onto taxpayers.
According to a local paper (the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman) in Alaska at the time (2000), Wasilla did not pay for rape kits - the charge was passed onto the rape victim - while the rest of Alaska routinely paid for rape kits where necessary. The direct quote from that newspaper can be found here:
: Knowles signs sexual assault bill<p> - Frontiersman
If Palin wants to argue that being Mayor was "kiiiiiind of like being a community organizer, except you have actual responsibility", then this is on her head.
She chose a police chief that charged rape victims on spec - in other words, if they could get a conviction, then the rape victim may not have had to pay for the kit.
And if they couldn't get a conviction? What then?
Need I go into statistics on how hard it is to get rape convictions?
And what if the victim doesn't have the money to pay the bill, or insurance to cover the bill? It creates an atmosphere where they may not report the crime, because maybe it wouldn't be investigated properly without footing the bill themselves!
Of all the things I've read about Sarah Palin, this one is the worst. If she's going to proclaim she had responsibility, then this is a huge thing.
