Edition No. 7

Crime Victims Are Demanding Better Treatment

In December 1993 on a Long Island Railroad commuter train, Colin Ferguson opened fire on passengers with an automatic weapon, leaving several dead and wounded.

We watched the reports of the defendant’s trial on television. The defendant was found guilty. Then we watched as the victims who lived through the rampage testified during the sentencing phase of Ferguson’s trial.

Victims frequently state that all they want is to be treated as well as the criminals.

Those same victims said that it was the ability to finally testify at the sentencing that gave them a sense of relief. They were able to talk about how their lives had been permanently altered by that massacre. They were able to look the defendant in the eye and tell the judge and jury how they thought Ferguson should be punished.

That scene is now taking place in many courtrooms all around this country. Victims being able to stand before judges and juries before sentencing at all is a result of a wave of victims’ rights laws and constitutional amendments that states have passed during the past decade.

Spurred on by increasingly vocal victims' rights organizations, legislatures have been passing these laws with a minimum of dissent. They are in response to claims by victims that the criminal justice system treats criminals better than the victims of the crimes. To make their point, victims frequently state that all they want is to be treated as well as the criminals.

The victims’ rights movement has had significant success in recent years. Twenty states have amended their constitutions to protect victims’ rights. All 50 states allow victims to have some input in sentencing. A majority of states require that victims be notified about events such as pre-trial release of an offender, plea bargains and parole hearings. Many states allow victims to testify at parole hearings. And every state has some form of a victim compensation program although they vary widely in effectiveness and funding.

Crime victims would prefer not to be involved with the criminal justice system in the first place. But when they are, they are now demanding to be treated at least as well as the criminals whose rights are scrupulously protected by the law. And so they should!