Debbie Smith Act
Law to fund DNA analyses of backlogged DNA samples collected from victims of crimes and criminal offenders
The Debbie Smith Act of 2004 (42 U.S.C. § 13701) provides United States federal government grants to eligible states and units of local government to conduct DNA analyses of backlogged DNA samples collected from victims of crimes and criminal offenders. The Act expands the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and provides legal assistance to survivors of dating violence. Named after sexual assault survivor Debbie Smith, the Act was passed by the 108th Congress as part of larger legislation, the Justice for All Act of 2004 (Pub. L. 108–405 (text) (PDF)), and signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 30, 2004. The Act amended the DNA Analysis Backlog Elimination Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. § 14135), the DNA Identification Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. § 14132), the Violence Against Women Act of 2000, and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The Act was reauthorized in 2008, extending the availability of DNA backlog reduction program grants, DNA evidence training and education program grants, and sexual assault forensic exam program grants through fiscal year 2014.
Debbie Smith
On March 3, 1989, a man wearing a ski mask entered Debbie Smith's home in Williamsburg, Virginia, threatened her with a gun, dragged her into the woods, blindfolded her, and raped her repeatedly over the next hour. Smith participated in the collection of DNA evidence for a rape kit, but it was neither formally tested nor entered into a national database until 1994.
On July 24, 1995, a DNA technician identified Debbie's attacker, Norman Jimmerson, while analyzing various DNA records. Jimmerson, then serving time for abducting and robbing two women in 1989, was sentenced to 161 years in prison under the three strikes law.
The public source identifies “Debbie Smith Act” as law to fund DNA analyses of backlogged DNA samples collected from victims of crimes and criminal offenders. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Debbie, Smith and fund.
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