History of Victims’ Rights and Services (Class Here) (Teachers Name) The history of victims rights started over 30 years ago with the Modern Crime Victims’ Rights Movement. They aspired to improve the treatment of victims in the Justice system. Since then, this movement has become one of the most successful civil liberties movement of the recent times. Over the years many services have emerged to help victims deal with what happened, some also provide funds as well as housing.
With the growing protection and services to crime victims, over the years they have started to play a bigger part in the criminal Justice process. They play key roles in identification of suspects and as well as getting criminals convicted. There have been a few cases over the course of the years that have also played a role in the improvement of the rights of crime victims. Starting back in the 1972 with the Linda R. S. V. Richard D. , which led to the creation of the Modern Crime Victims’ Rights.
In 1965 the first crime victim compensation program was created in California. Victims’ Rights had a slow take off but by 1975 they had established a victim/witness program in Brooklyn, NY, and Milwaukee, WI. As well as Victim Rights Week in Philadelphia, a new organization called the National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA) was founded in order to extend victims’ rights and services. The Modern Crime Victims’ Rights movement was founded in 1973 after the Supreme Court’s decision in the Linda R. S. V. Richard D..
Reason being is the Court ruled that the complainant didn’t have the legal standing to keep the prosecutors from discriminately applying a statue criminalizing non-payment of child support. In point, the court came to the decision that the crime victim cannot force a criminal rosecution because “a private citizen lacks a Judicially interest in the conviction or non-conviction of another”. Therefore the MCVR was founded in order to give victims a right in the criminal process, but yet limiting how far they can push it. Finally by 1982 Ronald Reagan’s Task Force on Victims of Crime released its Final Report.
The report in short basically stated that the innocent victims of crimes have been overlooked and their reports have gone unheeded. the report included a 68 recommendation for service providers and government officals, many of which are andated through the victims rights legislation today. It also included a recommendation for the victims’ rights amendment to the U. S. Constitution, a goal amended their constitution to address victims’ rights, as well has hundreds of organizations and movements all working towards the same cause, better victims’ rights.
When these organizations were first thought of, victims didn’t have very many rights. They didn’t have protective custody, nor did they have funding for them either. There are also services out there now they educate victims and other people o prevent them from being victims. The Victim Support Services, founded in 1975, by Lola Linstad after her daughter was abducted and murdered. She founded this service in order to support crime victims with advocacy, education, and awareness.
This is one of the oldest victim services that are still around. Victim services have been incorporated all over the country serving victims and helping them with gaining rights. In 2004, the Crime Victims’ Rights Act was granted. This gave victims more rights such as the right to protection from the accused, the right to notification, the ight not to be excluded from proceedings, the right to speak at criminal Justice proceedings, and a few others. This was big for Victims’ Rights Movements and Organizaions.
This therefore lead to a growing role of victims in the Criminal Justice process today. Due to all the new rights that crime victims have earn in the Justice system, this has caused an increase in the role that they play in the Judicial process. Crime Victims have been able to help much more with the identification of the suspects, as well as helping police to not falsely identify criminals. Before the days of rotective custody, many crime victims use to be afraid or too uncomfortable to testify due to feeling unsafe of the accused.
Services such even the Witness Protective Program have emerged where they go through the trouble of changing your name and identification. All these things have influenced the decisions of crime victims for the positive and have made them feel safer. With a greater influence with the crime victims gains cooperation, without that it makes a case hard against a criminal. The role of crime victims today is very different than in our earlier history. The crime victim once have a more prominent part in directing the progress of the criminal Justice.
Whereas today, participation in the contemporary criminal process puts numerous burdens on the crime victim. Many of them not only feel victimized by the crime but by the process as well. That tends to make them increasingly fail to help law enforcement. Crime victims not only help in the courtroom but also have proved worth in law enforcement investigations, with trailing suspects, identifying suspects, and even locating suspects. From the Victim Compensation Program in 1965 o the 2004 Crime Victims’ Rights Act, Victims rights have come a long way.
They have gone from low rights and low protection, to gaining many rights and the ability to gain a new lifestyle if need be. With those 33 states addressing victims rights, we can only hope more states continue to follow in amending their Constitutions to address better Victims’ Rights. Victims have helped put an uncountable number of criminals in Jail, and have helped the Justice system by cooperating with law enforcement. This is all due to the services provided by people who fght for victim rights.
