It’s National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, and state lawmakers are taking the opportunity to note laws the Legislature passed this session that seek to combat crime and promote victims’ rights.

House Speaker Robbie Wills of Conway comments on seven new laws, including Act 974 of 2009, also known as Juli’s Law, which provides for the collection of a DNA sample from a person arrested on suspicion of capital murder, first-degree murder, kidnapping or first- or second-degree sexual assault. The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Dawn Creekmore of East End, is named for Juli Busken, a Benton woman who was killed in 1996 while a student at the University of Oklahoma and whose killer was identified several years later through DNA evidence.

Sen. Joyce Elliott of Little Rock, who spoke at the state Capitol today during a news conference on Crime Victims’ Rights Week, said later she was pleased to have worked with Rep. Lindsley Smith of Fayetteville on Act 619 of 2009, which prohibits insurance companies from discriminating unfairly against victims of domestic abuse.

Elliott said she was not aware of any incidents of this type of discrimination in Arkansas, but she said some victims of domestic violence in other states have been denied coverage because of a so-called “pre-existing condition,” meaning they were abused in the past.

“Think about what that meant to women and children in particular — that that’s a pre-existing condition, therefore you won’t be covered,” she said.