Point/Counterpoint on the Crime Victims’ Rights Amendment:
Responses to key objections raised by opponents.

by Steve Twist

Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Letter to Senator Arlen Specter, April 7, 2003

1. "... S.J. Res. 1 would fundamentally alter the nation's charter with negligible benefits for victims... ."

The Coalition's characterization of the rights established in the Crime Victims Rights Amendment as "negligible benefits" is far outside the mainstream of the victims' rights movement.

• The Coalition may believe it is a "negligible benefit" for a domestic violence victim to be informed of the release hearing and the subsequent release of her batterer - the vast majority of domestic violence victims do not.
• The Coalition may believe it is a "negligible benefit" for the mother of a murdered child to be allowed in the courtroom during the trial of the accused murderer - the vast majority of parents of murdered children do not.
• The Coalition may believe it is a "negligible benefit" for a rape victim to be heard on the matter of a plea bargain for her rapist - the vast majority of rape victims do not.
• The Coalition may think it is a "negligible benefit" for a battered woman to be able to speak, if she so chooses, at the parole proceeding for her batterer - most victims do not.
• The Coalition may think the right to consideration of restitution or interest in avoiding unreasonable delay is a "negligible benefit" - most victims do not.
• The Coalition may think that it is a "negligible benefit" to require a battered woman's safety to be considered when release decisions are made - most battered victims do not.

2. "... victims' rights can be sufficiently established through the development of state codes."

The Coalition's position relegates crime victims to second-class citizenship. The history of this country demonstrates that fundamental rights can only be adequately provided and protected by inclusion in the federal constitution. This is true of defendants' rights and is true of victims' rights. This point is supported by the twenty years' experience with victims' rights statutes that have proven woefully inadequate in the face of the institutional inertia of the system. This is the universal conclusion of those who have studied the subject, including the U.S. Department of Justice. Consequently, just as defendants' rights required constitutional protection, so do victims' rights. Certainly the Coalition would not say that those constitutional amendments providing defendants' rights were in error. Victims are not less worthy of protection in the nation's fundamental charter.

3. "S. J. Res 1 does not offer victims with adequate redress for a state's failure to act."

S. J. Res. 1 confers standing on victims to enforce their rights in criminal cases. Standing is the only realistic means of enforcing rights and is exactly the method defendants use to enforce their rights.

4. "[T]he Amendment will place enormous burdens on state and federal law enforcement agencies. ... Prosecutorial discretion could be seriously compromised if crime victims are given the ability to effectively obstruct plea agreements or require prosecutors to disclose weaknesses in their case in order to persuade a court to accept a plea."

There is nothing in the language of the amendment that gives victims "the ability to effectively obstruct plea agreements or require prosecutors to disclose weaknesses in their case." The right to be heard included in the amendment does not equate to the right to "obstruct." Simply put, the right to be heard is a voice and not a veto. Presently, a number of states allow victims to be heard at court proceedings in which plea bargains are submitted for approval to the court and the evidence from those states undermines the Coalition's fears. For instance, in Arizona, the right to be heard, which has been exercised for more than a decade, has not resulted in "obstruction," nor forced prosecutors to disclose weaknesses in their case. In light of this, the Coalition's fears are unfounded.

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