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Nova National Organization for Victim Assistance.

 
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benn



Joined: 19 Sep 2002
Posts: 2136
Location: Sacramento, CA

PostPosted: Mon Dec 01, 2003 9:25 am    Post subject: Nova National Organization for Victim Assistance. Reply with quote

If you go to the website there are clickable links.
benn

NATIONAL ORGANIZATION
FOR VICTIM ASSISTANCE® Member of the National
Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster

file:///C:/Documents%20A/NECESSARY%20FILES
/crime%20victims%20nationwide%20%20cwrights.html

Basic Rights Revisited

When the victims movement was founded over twenty years ago, the idea of legal rights for victims of crime was a distant ring of hope for those who had suffered the trauma of victimization. Its early sound was a simple statement of seven principles, first articulated in 1980.

* Victims and witnesses have a right to protection from intimidation and harm.
* Victims and witnesses have a right to be informed concerning the criminal justice process.
* Victims and witnesses have a right to reparations.
* Victims and witnesses have a right to preservation of property and employment.
* Victims and witnesses have a right to due process in criminal court proceedings.
* Victims and witnesses have a right to be treated with dignity and compassion.
* Victims and witnesses have a right to counsel.

Determined victims and their advocates continue to fight for victim rights. Since 1980, every state has sought to translate these principles into policies and practice. Thirty-two states have passed constitutional amendments that address one or more basic rights.

* The federal government enacted the Victim and Witness Protection Act of 1982, the Victims of Crime Act of 1984, the Victims Rights and Restitution Act, the Child Victims' Bill of Rights in 1990, and the Victim Right Clarification Act of 1997.
* In 1985, the United Nations adopted a Declaration on Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power.
* The federal government enacted the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 as part of a comprehensive bill affecting victims in many ways.

The campaign for "victim justice" is not yet completed. Principles of justice must be further defined. Laws must be implemented and enforced. Rights must have remedies:

1. Protection for victims, witnesses, and communities, such as:

* Rights to privacy.
* Effective enforcement of protection orders.
* Safety and security in criminal justice processes.
* Establishment of safe havens and peace zones.
* Special protections for highly vulnerable populations.
* Violence prevention.

2. Information, notification, and consultations on case status, decision-making, and implementation of decisions:

* These rights should be applied and implemented in all criminal justice proceedings, including those in juvenile, military, educational, and administrative systems.
* Effective remedies should be available should rights fail to be enforced.

3. Participation through a voice, not a veto, by victims, witnesses, and communities. Participation is enhanced through:

* Effective public education.
* Community policing, community prosecution, community courts, and community corrections.
* Community problem-solving and violence prevention.
* Effective representation in the criminal justice process.

4. Reparations to the injured involving:

* Full restitution ordered to be paid by the offender to all identifiable victims.
* Restitution to the community rendered through service or money.
* Restorative compensation by the state to the victim.
* Recoveries for damages in civil actions as a supplement or alternative to criminal restitution.

5. Preservation of property and employment through innovative practices such as:

* Preserving rights of victims to stay in their homes and communities while evicting or exiling their offenders.
* Education and employment services for victims who, because of the crime, cannot continue in their past careers.
* Emergency financial aid, and intercession with creditors and landlords.
* Prompt property return or replacement.

6. Due process for victims and communities through:

* Ensuring rights to the victim parallel to those of the accused in the criminal justice processes as well as in juvenile, military, educational, and administrative proceedings.
* Returning justice to its community origins.
* Federal and state law should continue to set the definitions and boundaries of criminal law and procedures, but communities should be given significant responsibility for enforcing and monitoring the laws.

7. Treatment of victims with dignity and compassion throughout the nation and the world by:

* Training and education for criminal justice professionals in all aspects of victim issues and victim rights.
* Adequately funded victim assistance programs in every jurisdiction so that victims are never more than a telephone call away from help.
* Increasing public understanding of the impact of victimization and appropriate responses through educational curricula, as well as mandatory continuing education courses for lawyers, public safety officers, health and mental health professional, the clergy, and others who respond to victims.
* Establishing ethics and standards for quality assistance by programs and individuals serving victims.
* Eliciting responsibility and remorse from offenders, and educating offenders on the impact of crime on its victims.
* Appropriately responding to the needs and concerns of diverse population groups.
* Preventing future violence.

And in the end, all of these victim rights must be recognized as fundamental to American citizenship by express recognition in the United States Constitution.

benn
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jane



Joined: 22 Sep 2002
Posts: 3225

PostPosted: Mon Dec 01, 2003 10:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I like the list of victim rights, Benn.

I find it interesting (and right) that they include witness rights as well.
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"There is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known."
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