Senate Approves Victims’ Rights Bill - Women's Congressional Policy Institute

On April 22, the Senate approved, 96-1, a bill (S. 2329) that would grant specific rights to all victims of federal crimes. Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) sponsored the legislation as a compromise between supporters and opponents of a Constitutional amendment (S. J. Res. 1) to guarantee rights to victims of violent crimes in federal and state courts. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved S. J. Res. 1 on September 4 (see The Source, 9/5/03).

Under the measure, a victim of a federal crime would have the following rights:

The right to be reasonably protected from the accused;
The right to reasonable, accurate, and timely notice of any public proceeding involving the crime or of any release or escape of the accused;
The right to not be excluded from any such public proceeding;
The right to be reasonably heard at any public proceeding involving release, plea, or sentencing;
The right to confer with the attorney for the government in the case;
The right to full and timely restitution as provided in law;
The right to proceedings free from unreasonable delay; and
The right to be treated with fairness and with respect for the victims’ dignity and privacy.

S. 2329 would authorize $16.3 million in FY2005 and $26.5 million for FY2006 through FY2009 for witness assistance programs, enhancement of the victim notification system at the Department of Justice, and the National Crime Victim Law Institute. In addition, $5 billion would be authorized for FY2005 through FY2009 for crime victim notification grants to state, tribal, and local prosecutors’ offices.

Explaining that she and Sen. Kyl had worked together on the victims’ rights amendment for many years, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) stated, “In case after case we found victims, and their families, were ignored, cast aside, and treated as non-participants in a critical event in their lives. They were kept in the dark by prosecutors too busy to care enough, by judges focused on defendants’ rights, and by a court system that simply did not have a place for them. The result was terrible often the experience of the criminal justice system left crime victims and their families victimized again.”

Sen. Kyl argued that the bill is consistent with American values. “The right to fairness for crime victims and the right to notice and presence and participation are deeply rooted concepts in the United States of America,” he stated. “This country is all about fair play and giving power to the powerless in our society. It is about recognizing the values of liberty of the individuals against encroachments of the Government. Fair play for crime victims, meaningful participation of crime victims in the justice system, protection against a government that would take from a crime victim the dignity of due process these are consistent with the most basic values of due process in our society.”