NCJ Number
112958
Journal
Wayne Law Review Volume: 34 Issue: 1 Dated: (Fall 1987) Pages: 69-86
Date Published
1987
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This article summarizes selected research on the effects of victim participation in criminal justice processing.
Abstract
The research reviewed focuses on victim-witness attitudes, cooperation, and resulting administrative reforms; effects of victim participation on defendants and judicial administration; and whether victim participation is compatible with traditional American jurisprudence. Research indicates that victims' satisfication with the criminal justice system depends more on their perceived participation in case processing than on whether the defendants were punished. Studies show that where victims have participated in case processing, defendants' rights have not been compromised, and in some cases defendants have been helped. Victim participation positively impacts judicial administration by expediting cases because of increased victim cooperation. In Booth v. Maryland (1987) in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against victim impact statements in capital cases, the Court displayed a misguided in not hostile view of crime victims. Such lack of status for crime victims in case processing is neither explicit nor inevitable under the U.S. Constitution. To remove victims' rights from the vagaries of judicial interpretation in the absence of a clear constitutional mandate, an amendment to the U.S. Constitution should be enacted guaranteeing victims the right to participate in case processing. 83 footnotes.