CRIME VICTIMS' RIGHTS ACT

Background

The idea that crime victims' rights should be embedded in the U.S. Constitution was first proposed by President Ronald Reagan's Task Force on Victims of Crime in its 1982 Final Report. The Task Force proposed that the Constitution's Sixth Amendment be amended to guarantee that "... the victim, in every criminal prosecution shall have the right to be present and to be heard at all critical stages of judicial proceedings." In making this recommendation, the Task Force stated,

In applying and interpreting the vital guarantees that protect all citizens, the criminal justice system has lost an essential balance. It shoud be clearly understood that this Task Force wishes in not way to vitiated the safeguards that shelter anyone accused of crime; but it must be urged with equal vigor that the system has deprived the innocent, the honest, and the helpless of its protection.

Following up on that recommendation, a coalition of national victim advocates formed the National Victims' Constitutional Amendment Passage (NVCAP), but decided to initially focus on securing constitutional rights at the state level before seeking a federal amendment. The first state amendment was adopted in 1986 in Rhode Island and was followed by Florida and Michigan in 1988. By 2026, 36 states have adopted (or revised) state victims' rights constitutional provisions.

In January, 1997, Senators Jon Kyl and Dianne Feinstein introduced S.J.R. 6 to amend the U.S. Constitution to protect the rights of crime victims. Later that year, Rep. Henry Hyde introduced H.J.R. 71. Although numerous proposals had been introduced in subsequent Congressional sessions, it was not until Sens. Kyl and Feinstein introduced S.J.R.1 in 2003 that a proposed amendment advanced far enough to be taken up for consideration on the Senate floor. Unfortunately, the effort fell a few votes short of the needed 60 votes for a final vote. Much of the opposition focused, not on the specific substance of the rights to be afforded crime victims, but on the contention that such rights could be sufficiently provided through statutory enactments and need not be enshrined in the Constitution.

As a result, a compromise was reached to enact a statute affording specific rights to crime victims in the federal criminal justice system.The legislation, S. 2329 — the Scott Campbell, Stephanie Roper, Wendy Preston, Louarna Gillis, and Nila Lynn Crime Victims' Right Act (CVRA) — was introduced in the Senate on April 21, 2004 and passed by Senate by a vote of 96-1. The CVRA was then incorporated into the Justice for All Act and signed into law by the President on October 30, 2004 (P.L. 108-405, 118 Stat. 2260). In addition to providing rights to victims of federal crimes, the CVRA's purpose was to test whether statutes are an effective alternative to a constitutional amendment. For victim advocates, there are many examples since the CVRA's enactment that statutes remain insufficient.

The Crime Victims' Rights Act

The CVRA was located in Title 18 of the federal criminal code as 18 U.S.C. 3771 in order to make it accessible to federal criminal justice professionals. The CVRA affords victims in the federal criminal justice system the following rights:

(a) Rights of Crime Victims.—A crime victim has the following rights:

(1) The right to be reasonably protected from the accused.

(2) The right to reasonable, accurate, and timely notice of any public court proceeding, or any parole proceeding, involving the crime or of any release or escape of the accused.

(3) The right not to be excluded from any such public court proceeding, unless the court, after receiving clear and convincing evidence, determines that testimony by the victim would be materially altered if the victim heard other testimony at that proceeding.

(4) The right to be reasonably heard at any public proceeding in the district court involving release, plea, sentencing, or any parole proceeding.

(5) The reasonable right to confer with the attorney for the Government in the case.

(6) The right to full and timely restitution as provided in law.

(7) The right to proceedings free from unreasonable delay.

(8) The right to be treated with fairness and with respect for the victim’s dignity and privacy.

(9) The right to be informed in a timely manner of any plea bargain or deferred prosecution agreement.

(10) The right to be informed of the rights under this section and the services described in section 503(c) of the Victims’ Rights and Restitution Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 10607(c)) [1] and provided contact information for the Office of the Victims’ Rights Ombudsman of the Department of Justice.

In addition to these substantive rights, the CVRA includes several provisions enabling victims to enforce these rights and requires the Department of Justice and other federal agencies that investigate or prosecute crimes to make their best efforts to notify and afford victims these rights.

Although the CVRA applies only to victims of federal crimes, it was intended to serve as a model for the adoption or improvement of comparable laws at the state level.

CRIME VICTIMS' RIGHTS ACT

Background

The Crime Victims' Rights Act

References