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Justice has been delayed, possibly even denied, for hundreds of sexual assault victims in West Virginia, because "rape kits" that may contain DNA evidence have sat on law enforcement shelves for years without being tested.
Some progress has been made, but evidence collected from some victims 15 or more years ago has yet to be tested fully. West Virginia is among the states slowest to act on such backlogs, according to a national organization.
Obviously, money is a big part of the problem. Testing rape kits can be expensive.
State legislators should ask for an estimate of what it would take to make better progress in eliminating the backlog. Surely, even with all our government funding problems, West Virginians can still afford justice.