NCJ Number
218944
Date Published
2006
Length
292 pages
Annotation
In providing information on States' laws on crime victims' rights, this report addresses how these laws generally organize and administer victim services and outlines the provision of laws on victims' rights and services for each State, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
Abstract
State legislatures have been responsible for enacting laws that have created policies that expand victims' rights and services. As a result of these legislative actions, crime victims now broadly have rights to receive notice of and participate in the criminal justice processing of their cases and to be compensated for losses they suffered as a result of their victimization. State legislatures have also put in place civil remedies and privacy measures for crime victims. Victims' rights laws are continuously being expanded and improved as legislators learn more from victims and from criminal justice officials. The first section of the report contains a short summary of State laws in each topic area described and analyzed. State-by-State comparative information on what is contained in State laws in each area is often provided. The issues addressed in this overview of victims' rights and services in the States are the definition of "victim," State victims' rights constitutional amendments and statutory bill of rights, victim notification, victim participation, victim protection and confidentiality, victim compensation, restitution, offender notoriety for profit, victims of crimes committed by juveniles, and witness rights and protections. In the second section of the report, each State's laws on victims' rights and services are outlined according to the topic areas reviewed in the report's first section. The report notes that over the past 30 years, there has been an important shift in criminal justice systems toward recognizing the needs and rights of crime victims. 12 tables and 5 resources for more information