We are always pleased when victims' rights
and issues make the news, even when the stories are troubling and challenge
those of us who advocate for the interests of crime victims. On other pages, you'll find media
stories related to the topic of the page. On this page, we'll put up
general articles that don't have a place elsewhere.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Polly Franks, Executive Director
The Franks Foundation
Email Address: pollyfranks@franksfoundation.org
Telephone: (804) 564-9196
"Comfort Kits" for the Polygamist Compound Raid Children
Friday - April 11, 2008
Exactly seven months from the launch of "Operation Fuzzy,"
the Franks Foundation announces the most comprehensive
phase of our program for sexually abused children to date.
The recent polygamist compound raid in Eldorado, Texas, has
gripped the nation with allegations of rampant physical and sexual
abuse. Young girls, some as young as their early teens, are suspected
of being victims of rape and incest. Many are known to be pregnant.
The 416 children taken from the FLDS compound are frightened and traumatized.
Having been torn from the only home environment
they've ever known, their needs are many.
The Franks Foundation proudly announces our outreach to these
416 now-homeless children. After consulting with Ms. Debra Brown,
the Director of the Children's Advocacy Center in San Angelo, Texas,
the Franks Foundation shipped the first installation of stuffed animals and
"comfort kits"
to the children of the polygamist compound raid this week.
These "comfort kits" include pads of drawing paper and crayons, all wrapped
up in child-themed pillowcases. In instances where sexual abuse is
suspected or alleged, these pads of drawing paper allow a child to convey
their history of their abuse through art therapy. The stuffed animals not only
offer comfort, but allow the child to communicate how and where they have
been harmed in a nonthreatening way.
Polly Franks, Executive Director of the Franks Foundation, is encouraging
concerned Americans of all faiths to reach out to these children. "All
indications are that we're dealing with large numbers of crime victims;
some may be victims of lifelong physical abuse, many others may be
victims of sexual abuse - all at an extraordinarily tender age. As
Americans, we have to do everything we can to make their young lives
a little easier."
Polly Franks, Executive Director
The Franks Foundation
P.O. Box 11407
Richmond, Virginia 23230
(804) 564-9196
www.franksfoundation.org
Read a
press release from November 2007 and
update
about a touching plea from the mother of a murder victim to try to free
the innocent and dying man that is serving a wrongful life sentence for
her daughter's murder
Third Way Paper Identifies Four
Dangerous New Trends; New Poll Shows Public Concern Growing
Washington, DC – At a press conference with Governors from around the
country, Third Way today released a paper that warns of a coming wave of
crime and offers more than 100 federal, state, and local policy options to
handle the impending problem. The group also released the findings of a
new national poll revealing that public concern over crime is high and
growing.
The paper and poll were released at a Washington press conference that
included Governors Kathleen Sebelius (KS), Janet Napolitano (AZ), Phil
Bredesen (TN), and Martin O’Malley (MD). Pointing to the findings in the
paper, the Governors announced a 21st century crime-fighting agenda to
combat this wave.
In The Impending Crime Wave, Third Way describes the convergence of
four new and menacing sociological trends, which, together with the recent
federal disengagement from crime-fighting, threaten a new and devastating
wave of crime in America. These trends include:
•The Reentry Explosion: A massive group of prisoners are poised to
reenter their communities over the next several years. In the 1980s, 2.5
million prisoners were released; in this decade, it will be nearly 7
million, with 700,000 in the next year alone.
•The Lengthening Shadow of Illegal Immigration: With more that 12
million illegal immigrants now in the country, a shadow economy that both
serves and exploits illegal immigrants is large and growing, and a small
but violent minority of illegal immigrants are themselves offenders.
•The Sprawling Parentless Neighborhood of the Internet: Technology, in
particular the explosion of online social networking, is exposing
increasing numbers of young children and teenagers to a surge in sexual
predation on the Internet.
•The Surging Youth Population: Young people commit far more crimes than
the general population, and the demographic bulge in young people, if not
effectively addressed, will account for about 2.5 million more crimes by
2012.
The Third Way paper notes that crime, a major political issue in the
1980s when rates were high, receded from the political radar as national
crime rates fell for 14 years. But a new Third Way poll, conducted by
Cooper & Secrest Associates, reveals that crime is returning to the
national consciousness: by a five-to-one margin, Americans believe there
is more crime in America than one year ago, and by a margin of 69-19%,
Americans feel that crime is more of a threat to their own safety than
terrorism.
At the press conference, each of the governors pointed to work that
they and their colleagues at the state and local level were doing to
confront the growing crime problem, noting the uniquely 21st century
nature of the challenge. They noted that the dozens of policy ideas
enumerated in the Third Way paper showed the innovation and effort on
crime fighting going on in the states, and they stressed that they were
getting ahead of the problem and offering concrete solutions. Each also
called on the federal government, which had been a major partner in
crime-fighting in the 1990s, to restore the programs and funding that had
made a major difference in anti-crime initiatives nationwide.
Governor Sebelius, who chairs the Third Way Governors initiative,
stated in her remarks: “State and local governments face new and dangerous
trends that, without significant federal support, will have a devastating
impact on communities around the country. We urge the federal government
to re-engage in America’s crime problem and join Governors in advancing a
21st century crime-fighting agenda.”
Rachel Laser, Director of the Third Way Culture Program and co-author
of the paper, noted: “The danger of a return to the old days of high crime
rates is real, and Americans understand that. We applaud the work that
Governors are doing to combat these 21st century crimes with real policy
solutions that can ensure that we get ahead of this impending wave.”
The paper and poll can be found at Third Way’s website:
www.thirdway.org.
"StoryCorps
is a national oral history project created to celebrate and preserve one
another's stories in sound. Tens of thousands of people have visited
StoryBooths, like the one here in Nashville, to interview their loved
ones. They leave with a copy of their interview on CD,
and another copy is archived at the Library of Congress for future
generations. In addition, a select few interviews are edited down from 40
minutes to about 2 minutes, and are aired on NPR weekly."\
VOCA UPDATE FROM THE
NEW PROPOSED BUDGET: 2008 will see some severe cuts to VOCA
victim assistance grants. Congress lowered the VOCA cap from $625 million
to $590 million. Because of increases in the other VOCA programs and new
administrative costs being assessed against the Fund for the first time,
state VOCA assistance grants could be cut by as much as $81 million. That
would be on top of the $25 million cut suffered in 2007.
Now, the
Administration's 2009 budget would wreak havoc on VOCA victim
assistance programs even more. For the fourth time in as many years, the
Administration wants to wipe out the Crime Victims Fund by transferring $2
billion in to the General Treasury, leaving the Fund empty at the beginning
of 2010. The budget retains the VOCA cap at $590 million, but includes $50
million for the Antiterrorism Emergency Reserve under the cap. With
expected increases in other VOCA programs and continuation of the
administrative charges, it is expected that state VOCA assistance grants
could be cut by another $52.8 million. The cumulative cut to assistance
programs would be $159 million -- 47 percent -- since 2006.
Write your Congressional Representatives - tell
them hands off VOCA funds!
January 27, 2008
Plan to Close Prisons Stirs Anxiety in Towns That Depend on Them
NEW YORK TIMES By FERNANDA SANTOS
Ed. Note - this article brings light
to one of the significant complications with regard to the economics issues in
the prison system and the changes in sentencing practices.
GABRIELS, N.Y. — After 17 years of marriage, Joy and Richard Gonyea managed to
save enough to trade their trailer in November for a cozy prefabricated home
with a room for each of their two children and a pool in the backyard. The
home overlooks the pine trees on the edge of their two-acre property in rural
Vermontville, eight miles from the secluded state prison where Mrs. Gonyea
works.
“This home is all we’ve ever dreamed of,” said Mrs. Gonyea, 43, a registered
nurse who runs the medical department at the prison, Camp Gabriels, a
minimum-security facility in this minuscule hamlet in Franklin County, at the
northern end of Adirondack Park.
“This,” she said, “is the place we always wanted to have for our kids.”
Then she began to cry.
On Jan. 11, the Spitzer administration announced plans to close Camp Gabriels,
two other corrections camps and a medium-security prison, all of which have
been operating below capacity since 1996 because of a decline in the number of
nonviolent felons, the state’s corrections commissioner, Brian Fischer, said.
Closing those prisons, Mr. Fischer said, would save the state millions of
dollars, free up money for the treatment of sex offenders and mentally ill
inmates, and finance programs like anger management and vocational training,
meant to prepare prisoners for their release.
But for Mrs. Gonyea, her neighbors and co-workers, the prospect of losing Camp
Gabriels has stoked fear and doubt — about their future and about the future
of their communities, which have come to depend on the prison over the years
to survive.
As rural economies across the country crumbled in the 1980s and the population
of prison inmates swelled, largely because of tougher drug laws, states pushed
prison construction as an economic escape route of sorts. Throughout the 1960s
and ’70s, an average of four prisons were built each year in rural America;
the rate quadrupled in the 1980s and reached 24 a year in the 1990s, according
to the federal Agriculture Department’s economic research service.
The boom, experts say, provided employment, but it also fostered a cycle of
dependency. Depressed rural communities came to rely on the prisons as a
source of jobs, economic sustenance and services, with little effort devoted
to attracting other viable businesses.
“What we’ve seen in New York and other states is that one prison led to
another prison and led to another prison, creating the notion that there’s no
other economic development option than to build prisons to foster stability in
rural areas,” said Tracy Huling, an independent consultant in New York who has
done extensive research on the role of prisons in rural economies.
None of the 584 workers at Camp Gabriels and the other prisons slated to close
— Camp McGregor in Saratoga County, Camp Pharsalia in Chenango County and the
Hudson Correctional Facility in Columbia County — are expected to lose their
jobs; state and union officials have said the workers will be able to transfer
to other prisons.
But when that will happen, where the new jobs will be or even whether there
will be jobs for everyone, are bound to remain open questions for months to
come.
The uncertainty has gnawed on residents here and in several other communities
in this remote, challenging region where below-zero temperatures are the norm
this time of year. The correction industry is big business in Franklin County,
which has five state prisons and one federal prison in its 1,678 sparsely
populated square miles. In the town of Brighton, which encompasses Gabriels
and five other hamlets, the prison is perhaps the only place where someone
with a high school diploma can earn a decent wage and benefits.
“There ain’t much else the local people could do for gainful employment,” said
Peter Martin, 48, the town’s supervisor and a corrections officer at Camp
Gabriels for 22 years.
The camp employs 136 people, including 85 corrections officers.
The reliance on Camp Gabriels extends well beyond jobs. Small businesses have
staked their survival on the prison workers who patronize their stores. Local
governments and charities, meanwhile, have come to depend on inmate work crews
to clear snow from fire hydrants, maintain parks and hiking trails, mow the
lawns at cemeteries and unload trucks at food pantries.
Every winter, the crews help build an ice palace in the nearby village of
Saranac Lake, cutting thick blocks of ice that can weigh up to 700 pounds. The
palace is the main attraction of the village’s Winter Carnival and attracts
thousands to the area.
“All those services, when you put that into dollars, there’s no way we’d be
able to hire people to perform them,” said Mary Ellen Keith, supervisor of the
town of Franklin, which relies on the crews to cut overgrown brush from the
sides of 67 miles of local roads, among other tasks. (Franklin is just south
of Brighton and another of the 19 towns that make up Franklin County.)
Four of Mrs. Keith’s nine children work in state prisons, she said, including
a son and a daughter at Camp Gabriels.
“Everyone around here either works in the prisons, or has a relative who works
in the prisons, or knows someone who works in the prisons,” said Mrs. Keith,
78. “My kids were able to build their homes and raise their families here
because of the prisons. If it weren’t for the prisons, they would have had to
leave the area.”
Prisons are also a valuable political tool, because inmates are counted as
local residents, allowing communities to receive more state and federal aid
for emergency services. Mr. Martin said that he was not yet sure how the town
of Brighton stood to lose if Camp Gabriels closed, but he added, “We’re
concerned about losing any kind of aid here.”
Inmate-inclusive population counts are also used when drawing legislative and
Congressional district lines.
Franklin County has struggled to find its economic footing. The terrain is
carved by mountains, streams and lakes, with limited farmland. Much of it
falls inside Adirondack Park, so development must abide by strict rules.
Tourism is strong, but concentrated in a few areas. Winters are long and the
wind so cold it seems to slice the skin, like tiny razor blades. The soil is
frozen for most of the year; the growing season lasts from May through
September, yielding potatoes and some grain crops, but little else.
In Gabriels, which has about 800 residents, including the prison’s 186
inmates, the closest thing to Main Street is a half-mile stretch of state
highway, Route 86. It has two mini-markets, two farms, a general store, a
cafe, a temporary post office (the permanent one burned last winter) and a few
dozen homes. Camp Gabriels is set back from the highway, shrouded by tall
pines.
The camp opened in 1982, in a building once occupied by a sanitarium. It has
no fences; trees delimit its perimeter. At its peak, it held 336 inmates.
“There’s no doubt that closing prisons could bring short-term economic
distress to some areas, but the question is, is that a justification for
refusing to make changes? The answer should be no,” said Edmund J. McMahon,
director of the Empire Center for New York State Policy, a conservative group.
“There should be other ways of improving the economic situation in upstate New
York that doesn’t involve filling upstate New York with prisons.”
Gov. George E. Pataki tried to close prisons in New York each fiscal year from
2002 to 2006, but he faced intense pressure from upstate legislators and union
leaders, who are already objecting to Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s proposal.
This is Mr. Spitzer’s first try to close prisons and, officials say, it is a
necessary step to help the state bridge a projected $4.4 billion budget gap
and adapt its corrections system to the number and types of inmates it now
serves. The closings, scheduled for January 2009, would save the state more
than $40 million in operating costs over the next two years and $30 million
over five years in repair costs.
“This is as much a budget issue as it is a management issue,” Mr. Fischer, the
corrections commissioner, said in an interview. “I’ve got a finite budget and
I’ve got a finite work force, and I have to use them where my needs are, and
that’s in the larger facilities.”
The number of inmates housed in the state’s maximum-security prisons increased
by 18 percent from 1996 to 2007, while the inmate population in
medium-security prisons declined by the same rate. During that period, the
number of prisoners in minimum-security facilities — most convicted of
larceny, burglary, minor drug possession and other nonviolent crimes —
decreased by 47 percent, officials said.
Six months before closing Camp Gabriels and the other prisons, the state must
detail what it plans to do with the emptied facilities. Mr. Fischer said that
it was too early to tell what those plans would be, but that the state would
consider public and private uses for the properties.
Union leaders and many Camp Gabriels workers said they would not give in
easily, though. They organized a rally in Saranac Lake on Thursday and a
letter-writing campaign, hoping to convince state legislators that the prison
was worth saving.
“I told my wife we should hang in there,” said Mr. Gonyea, 44, who retired in
2005 after working for 23 years as a corrections officer, 17 of those at Camp
Gabriels. “The anxiety, all this doubt, it’s killing us. But it’s not over
yet.”
Giving
Crime Victims More of Their Say
A federal law has created tensions in the legal system By Emma Schwartz US NEWS AND WORLD REPORT
Posted December 13, 2007
W. Patrick Kenna felt cheated. In 2000, he invested $20,000 with a currency
trading company, hoping to earn enough to start a new business. Instead, he
lost nearly the entire sum, defrauded along with dozens of other investors. A
Los Angeles businessman, Kenna took some comfort in knowing that the two men
responsible—father-and-son owners of the company—would spend significant time
behind bars, but he wanted to make sure the judge knew just how much trouble
they had caused.
Patrick Kenna won the right to speak against those who defrauded him.
(Chick Harrity for USN&WR) Related News
A Debt Hard To Collect
Gitmo Prisoners' Rights Reviewed (Nov. 30)
Video: Supreme Court Reviews Gitmo Prisoners' Rights
Kenna made his anger clear during the father's 2005 sentencing, but when the
son's day in court arrived three months later, the federal judge denied
Kenna's request to speak. "I listened to the victims the last time," Judge
John Walter said. "There just isn't anything else that could possibly be
said." Kenna was furious. "We didn't feel that the judge was taking into
consideration the victims in the case," he says. So he turned to the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which ordered the judge to let Kenna
speak at a new hearing.
The reversal in Kenna's case reflects the growing influence of crime victims
since the passage in 2004 of landmark federal legislation granting them new
and expanded rights. Three years later, the changes are beginning to have an
impact, shifting the balance of a legal system that historically has been
solely a two-party affair. One result is tension between legal parties and
concern among defense attorneys who fear that a greater role for victims
conflicts with the right of defendants to a fair trial.
Historically, the adversarial legal system has carved out roles in criminal
cases only for the prosecutor and the accused. Victims have been relegated to
the sidelines unless they were testifying. Although the interests of
prosecutors usually align with those of victims, they are not always the same:
for instance, when victims want tougher sentences than prosecutors do.
Victims' rights advocates hope the changes are just the start and are pushing
to put victims on an equal footing with defendants and prosecutors. "What our
goal should be is to put the victim back into the position as if no crime had
been committed," says Paul Cassell, a former federal judge who resigned this
year to advocate for victims.
Crime victims began winning rights at the state level decades ago, but the
2004 legislation brought the protections to the federal level for the first
time. Victims now must be notified about court developments. They must be
allowed to speak during bail and sentencing hearings. And most important, the
law gives them the ability to appeal rulings when they think their rights are
being violated, as Kenna did. The Justice Department is even funding three
legal clinics, in Maryland, Arizona, and South Carolina, to help victims
assert these rights in court.
Bias. But defense attorneys say that changing the adversarial system further
would have dangerous consequences. Most problematic, they say, would be
allowing victims more control over prosecutorial decisions. Victims can be
biased, attorneys say, and they sometimes fail to understand how their case
fits into the system as a whole.
It's often hard to define a victim in the first place. For instance, is a
woman a victim in a marijuana-dealing case because her boyfriend beat her
while he was high on drugs he bought from the dealer? A court said no. Could
an Arizonan tell the judge he opposed the death penalty at the sentencing
hearing for the man who killed his wife? That judge, too, said no.
Defense attorneys are also wary of the influence that victims may have on plea
agreements. And they point out that a victim's testimony, in bail or
sentencing hearings, is not subject to the same cross-examination as is the
testimony of other witnesses. Overall, they worry that inserting victims more
broadly into the process pits the defendant against not one, but two,
adversaries.
Victims' rights advocates make just the opposite argument. They say the
victims' rights laws are not uniformly enforced on a federal level—and are
almost nonexistent in many states. Instead, they say, victims often get little
guidance from the government. Mindful of such problems, a small group of
advocates is helping victims with appeals and other legal issues through the
federally funded clinics. "Having the attorney there is starting to turn the
rights into more than rhetoric," says Meg Garvin, a lawyer at Lewis and Clark
Law School who coordinates the clinics.
One satisfied client of the clinic is Marylander Tracy Palmer, a 41-year-old
mother of two who had been trying to escape her ex-husband since 1994, when he
first was convicted of assaulting her. In 2001 he was sentenced to 15 years in
jail, but it was only by chance that Palmer found that a judge was about to
release him after just four years. She protested that she was not notified of
the hearing. A judge rebuffed her, butthe federal clinic helped her win
another review of her ex-husband's release, a decision now on appeal.
The victims' rights laws are changing the system for prosecutors like Trey
Gowdy in Spartanburg, S.C. He now may have to make an extra phone call to keep
victims' lawyers in the loop, but Gowdy says he's never had a major conflict.
Still, he thinks the best service for victims—as for defendants—is the
government doing its job well. "The better the prosecutors," says Gowdy, "the
less you will feel victims having needs."
This email comes to us from a staffer at the Cook
County States Attorney's office:
My brother, Tim, is a Commander in the U.S. Navy and is leaving
for Iraq (in December 2007) anticipating arrival
at Camp Victory, Baghdad. He leaves behind his wife and four children to
eventually command the Navy's EOD forces in Iraq. This is one of the most
dangerous assignments because, basically, his troops are charged with
dismantling or detonating bombs, land mines, etc. to ensure the safety
of our troops and the citizens of Iraq. As you can well imagine,
many of these devices are new technology or handmade and ingenious.
Because he will not be here for the holiday season, I thought I would ask
all of my friends to send him a card as a way of letting him know how much
we appreciate what he is doing for us and to let him know he is
thought of. I thought it would be a fun thing for him to all of a sudden
hear from a ton of people unexpectedly.
If you are able to help out, I appreciate it so much. If you
know of others who might be willing to send him a card, could you pass this
email along? Tim's contact info is below. Thank you so much!
MM
Mail Address:
CDR Timothy Richardt
DCO - EOD
MNC-I, CJTF TROY
Unit 42007
APO AE 09342
Thousands of volunteers, thousands of spectators, a brand-new house built in
a week. "I think it's Extreme Minnesota Nice," said Carolyn Gonzalez shortly
before the unveiling Tuesday of a new house built for the "Extreme Makeover:
Home Edition" television show in Minnetonka for the children of Gonzalez's
best friend, Teri Lee.
Lee and her boyfriend Tim Hawkenson were shot to death by Lee's ex-boyfriend
in her West Lakeland Township home Sept. 22. Lee's four children are now
being raised by Lee's sister Vicki Swenson and Swenson's husband, Erik. But
with their three other children, the family of nine could barely fit in
their three-bedroom Minnetonka house.
Their story caught the attention of the producers of the ABC television
program, which blitz builds houses for deserving families while the cameras
roll. In the case of the Swensons, who are both high school teachers, their
old house would be demolished and replaced by a seven-bedroom home by
volunteer crews working round-the-clock.
Tuesday was the tearful climax of the effort, what the show-biz types called
"the reveal," when the family would return from a free week in Disneyland
and be driven in a giant black stretch SUV to their address on Park Lane
South. A big bus was parked in front of the house, so the family didn't get
to see their new digs until a frenzied audience of star-struck fans and
volunteers was cued to chant "Move that bus!"
"I think this is one of the most deserving families I've ever seen on the
show. I'm going to cry right now," said Amanda Weidner, a Minnetonka
resident who was among the throng that waited for hours for the big moment.
Police officers on hand who had to direct traffic and help with crowd
control estimated a couple thousand people had showed up - including the
University of Minnesota dance team and Goldy Gopher - despite occasional
rain and repeated rehearsals of the arrival of the family.
"Another practice run," said Weidner as an SUV limo pulled up in front of
the house.
"Got to get the camera angles," said Marjorie Knutsen, a spectator from
Lakeville.
"That's a practice family," Weidner said, as a group of people posed in
front of the house.
"You'll know when it's the real thing," Knutsen said. "Ty will be there,"
she said, referring to show host and heartthrob Ty Pennington.
"I've lived here since 1965, and this is the most excitement we've ever
had," neighbor Emily Reichel said. "Everybody is in love with Ty." Neighbors
said they've had to put up with spectators coming at all hours to watch the
Hollywood house raising, crowds spilling onto their lawns and strangers
asking to use their bathrooms. But they also were swept up into the
excitement, perching on their rooftops to watch the spectacle, which will
air in November. One neighbor even cut down a tree to make way for a VIP
tent.
"It's like a dream. It's just like a dream. The family can finally have some
space," said Shirley Seliger, Vicki Swenson's mother. Seliger said she was
grateful to the neighbors and the volunteer builders.
"It's Minnesota people pitching in when someone needs help. They want to see
a family have their dream come through," she said.
But for Rachel Lemke, the dream was Ty Pennington. The Big Lake woman and
her friend Marti Ammend showed up to the job site Saturday to volunteer.
They waited for four hours, then got a chance to pick up garbage for 20
minutes, but still didn't see Pennington.
"It was cool to see the house. The way they put it up so fast," Ammend said.
"There was a house?" Lemke asked.
Lemke and Ammend returned Tuesday and waited for hours to see if they could
see Pennington, despite being late to work and parking illegally.
"Can we go?" asked Lemke's 12-year-old son.
"No," she replied. "We're looking for a new dad for him. So I pick Ty."
Finally, the big moment came. The Swenson-Lees arrived. And most important
for Lemke, Pennington emerged. "Oh, my God, how hot is he?" Lemke said.
The Project At A Glance
Old home: 2,300 square feet, three bedrooms, 2½ baths
New home: 5,600 square feet, seven bedrooms and five baths
"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" airs at 7 p.m. Sundays on KSTP-TV, Channel
5. The show featuring the Swenson-Lee family is scheduled to air Nov. 25.
By Richard Chin – 08/29/2007. Reprinted from Pioneer Press http://www.twincities.com/ci_6744420?source=rss
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Parents of Murdered Children, Inc.Minnesota Hope
Chapter
PO Box 516, Circle Pines MN 55014
pomcmn@isd.net
Mary Stimpson - Chapter Co-Leader & Newsletter Editor
http://www.pomc.com
http://www.pomc.com/minnesota
The FBI released the 2006 Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted(LEOKA) report. The report indicates 46 officers were feloniously
killed last year by afirearm, and 4 killed by
accidental shooting. The National LawEnforcement
Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) had preliminarily reported52 firearm deaths last year.
According to the NLEOMF, 61 officers have been feloniously killed witha firearm in the line of duty in 2007. The last time 60 officers werekilled in a year was 2001, when 61 officers were killed, and prior tothat 1997, when 68 were killed. We are on pace to have the highestnumber of officers killed by firearms in over a decade.
Also, the number of officers assaulted with a firearm increased. Therewere 2,278 incidents of assault on an officer with a firearm in 2006,
upfrom 2,157 incidents the year before. This is
the highest number ofassaults on law enforcement
with a firearm in the past ten years.Improvements
in training and body armor may have saved many of theseofficers lives.
This is a very disturbing trend. The combination of criminals havingeasy access to high powered weapons, and law enforcement not having
the
tools to effectively fight illegal gun trafficking
is having an impact. The gun pusher lobby has a lot to
answer for.
Here's your chance to make a difference and let your voice beheard. I was speaking with Denise Brown's assistant yesterday(Denise is the sister of Nicole Brown Simpson). We were discussingthe ongoing fight to keep the O.J. Simpson book "If I Did It" from
being sold. She asked me to tell everyone about the on-line Petition.You can access this by logging onto
www.denisebrown.com.
Thereis a link on the Home Page to
the Petition under the heading "Current
Event." They are needing 100,000 signatures , but so far have less than
5,000. Please take a few minutes out of your busy life and let your voice be
heard. Here's your chance to exercise your right to free speech and "draw a
line in the sand" and fight this evil.
Thank you SO much!!
Y'all have a great day,
Polly
Polly Franks, Executive Director
The Franks Foundation
P.O. Box 11407
Richmond, Virginia 23230
(804) 564-9196
www.franksfoundation.org
National Coalition of Victims in Action has issued the
following news release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Polly Franks, Executive Director
The Franks Foundation
Email Address: pollyfranks@franksfoundation.org
Telephone: (804) 564-9196
AND
Contact: Gordon and Elaine Rondeau, Executive Director
The National Coalition of Victims in Action (NCVIA)
Email Address: aammen@worldnet.att.net
Telephone: (770) 977-3028
August 27, 2007
IT'S TIME TO SPIT OUT "THE JUICE" - ONCE AND FOR ALL!!
The ongoing saga of O.J. Simpson is like a recurring nightmare that refuses
to go away. It's been over 13 years since the butchered, blood-drenched
bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were found lying dead on
the sidewalk of Ms. Simpson's Brentwood, California home. Now it appears
that O.J. Simpson's book, If I Did It, is indeed going to see the
light of day.
Ronald Goldman had the horrible misfortune of having his life brutally ended
as he was returning a pair of sunglasses to a friend. Nicole Brown Simpson's
death was preceded by years of being threatened, stalked and repeatedly
beaten by her former husband. Tragically, she had predicted her own murder
and it's judicial aftermath by stating, "O.J.'s going to kill me and then
he's going to get away with it."
The Franks Foundation and the National Coalition of Victims in Action (NCVIA)
- national crime victim advocacy organizations - are calling for a
nationwide boycott of O.J. Simpson's book. We applaud the decision of the
bookstore chain Barnes and Noble for refusing to promote or
sell this book and we are hoping that other bookstore chains will follow
their lead. We call on this boycott because (1) we believe that
O.J. Simpson should NOT stand to profit with additional publicity and (2)
because of the inevitable revictimization of Nicole Brown Simpson's
children that this book is going to cause.
The Franks Foundation and the NCVIA also call for the boycott of any company
involved in this book's publication, sale or promotion. "Thereis a word for
books of the nature," states Polly Franks, "the word is filth and anyone
associated with it should be mortally ashamed of themselves. We find it
morally reprehensible that O.J. Simpson - or anyone else, for that matter -
should profit in any way from the cold-blooded murder of two innocent human
beings. Let's remember these murders for the horrifying crimes that they
were, and NOT as a form of entertainment."
More than 2.24 million people are now incarcerated in America's prisons
and jails. "Prison and Jail Inmates at Mid-year 2006" also offers data about
increases in both state prisons and local jails. You can access this Report
at:
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/pjim06.htm
"Children, Families and the Criminal Justice System," just released by
the University of Illinois at Chicago presents findings from a key national
study that examined kids whose parents have been incarcerated or had
interactions with the criminal justice system. This is a really interesting
study -- check it out at
http://www.uic.edu/jaddams/college/research/What%20we%20know%20now.pdf
BOSTON (June 27) - A trial that opened more than a year ago has become
bogged down in Boston federal court. There have been hundreds of hours
of testimony from witnesses, including 10 medical specialists paid tens
of thousands of dollars. The judge himself even hired an expert to help
him make sense of it all.
The question at the center of the case: Should a murderer serving life
in prison get a sex-change operation at taxpayer expense?
The case of Michelle - formerly Robert - Kosilek is being closely
watched across the country by advocates for other inmates who want to
undergo a sex change. Transgender inmates in other states have sued
prison officials, and not one has succeeded in persuading a judge to
order a sex-change operation.
The Massachusetts Correction Department is vigorously fighting Kosilek
's request for surgery, saying it would create a security nightmare and
make Kosilek a target for sexual assault.
An Associated Press review of the case, including figures obtained
through Freedom of Information Act requests and interviews, found that
the Correction Department and its outside health care provider have
spent more than $52,000 on experts to testify about an operation that
would cost about $20,000.
The duration and expense of the case have outraged some lawmakers who
insist that taxpayers should not have to pay for inmates to have surgery
that most private insurers reject as elective.
"They are prisoners. They are there because they've broken the law,"
said Republican state Sen. Scott Brown, who unsuccessfully introduced a
bill to ban sex-change surgery for inmates. "Other folks, people who
want to get these types of surgeries, they have to go through their
insurance carrier or save up for it and do it independently. Yet if you
are in prison, you can do it for nothing? That doesn't make a lot of
sense."
But advocates say in some cases - such as that of Kosilek , who has
twice attempted suicide - sex-change surgery is as much a medical
necessity as treatment for diabetes or high blood pressure.
"The duty belongs to the prison to figure out how to fulfill its
constitutional obligations to both provide adequate medical care and
provide a fundamental security for all inmates," said Cole Thaler, an
attorney with Lambda Legal, a gay- and transgender-rights group.
Kosilek , 58, was convicted of strangling his wife in 1990. He claimed
he killed her in self-defense after she spilled boiling tea on his
genitals.
Robert Kosilek legally changed his name to Michelle in 1993, and has
sued the Correction Department twice, arguing that its refusal to allow
a sex-change operation violates the Eighth Amendment protection against
cruel and unusual punishment.
In 2002, U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf ruled that Kosilek was entitled
to medical treatment for gender identity disorder, but stopped short of
ordering the surgery. Kosilek sued again in 2005, arguing that the
hormone treatments, laser hair removal and psychotherapy she has
received since Wolf's ruling have not relieved her anxiety and
depression.
"I would not want to continue existing like this," Kosilek testified.
Kosilek 's second trial, which began in May 2006, has featured expert
testimony from 10 doctors, psychiatrists and psychotherapists. Wolf has
not indicated when he will rule.
The Correction Department has spent about $33,000 on two experts it
retained to evaluate Kosilek . Both Cynthia Osborne, a Baltimore
psychotherapist, and Chester Schmidt, a psychiatry professor at Johns
Hopkins University, said Kosilek does not need the surgery. Schmidt's
fee alone was $350 per hour.
Two other doctors retained and paid for by the department's outside
health provider, the University of Massachusetts Correctional Health
Program, at a cost of just under $19,000 said they believe the surgery
is medically necessary for Kosilek . Two other doctors who work for the
health provider agreed with that.
In addition, two psychiatrists who testified for Kosilek recommended the
surgery. A Boston law firm representing Kosilek for free paid for those
experts but would not disclose the cost.
In Wisconsin, five inmates sued after the Legislature passed a law that
bars Correction Department funding for hormone treatments or sex-change
surgery. The case is expected to go to trial in October.
Those who argue against allowing the surgery say it could open the
floodgates to other inmates who want sex-change operations or other
treatments considered elective.
In Massachusetts, 10 inmates have been diagnosed with gender identity
disorder and are receiving hormone treatments. Two other inmates besides
Kosilek have asked for sex-change surgery.
Corrections officials say their decision to deny the surgery has nothing
to do with costs or the politics of crime. They cite the testimony of
their experts and Kosilek herself that her feelings of depression have
diminished since she began taking hormones.
Former Commissioner Kathleen Dennehy testified that allowing Kosilek to
complete the transformation into a woman would present a security
problem. Whether she stays in a male prison or is transferred to a
female prison, she could become a target for sexual assault, Dennehy
testified.
Dennehy also said prison officials cannot be influenced by Kosilek 's
talk of suicide.
"The department does not negotiate or respond to threats of harm or
suicide in an effort to barter," she said. "You couldn't run a prison
with that kind of leveraging going on."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP
news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise
distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2007-06-26 23:38:26
EDITOR'S NOTE: We believe Illinois, and all states,
should promptly pass laws forbidding these kinds of lawsuits by prisoners.
When we think about the fact that police, victims, and other citizens in
strong financial need for support from the state cannot get the funding
they need, it just is devastating to see precious resources eaten up by
this kind of ridiculous legal action by an inmate.
With the
warm weather increases in violence all over the city and suburbs, many groups
led by victims are taking action. Rev. Jesse Jackson and Father Mike Pfleger are
marching with victims on gun shops that illegally traffic guns that end up on
the streets and in the hands of gangs. Victims are marching in 4th of July
parades in Evanston. Plans are in the works for national marches on August 28,
the anniversary of Dr. King's March on Washington, in 25 cities all across the
nation. Call 847-446-7073 if you would like to sign up to join any of these
events or just to get more information.
Perched on BMX bicycles in their South Side neighborhood, Kenneth Brown and
Vincent Richardson felt perfectly safe Saturday morning, thanks to dozens of
police officers and community activists filling the street for an anti-violence
march.
It was an unusual sense of security. The boys -- 12 and 13, respectively -- said
they normally stay inside with their video games to avoid the gangs and gunfire
that are an all-too-common affliction where they live in Burnside. The march was
meant to enlist support to stop violence. Kenneth was skeptical.
"It can make a difference, but some people, they just don't care," he said.
The event was one of several area rallies Saturday meant to focus attention on a
plague of bloodshed that, among other victims, has taken the lives of 33 Chicago
students since the 2006-07 school year began. From Burnside to Evanston,
activists said they were speaking out against gangs, guns and a culture of
cruelty that shows no sign of abating.
"This city and this country doesn't even know what's happening," said Phillip
Jackson, an organizer of a downtown march in protest of the death toll. "All
across this country, children are dying just like they're dying in Chicago ...
It's a declared war. We want to let this city know, this country know, that it
is time to value the lives of these black and Latino children."
Gathering on Michigan Avenue near the Art Institute of Chicago, Jackson and
about 100 others recalled the students who have died, solemnly reading their
names and then releasing balloons meant as symbols of their lost lives.
Keith Nunnally, who came from the Beverly neighborhood on the South Side to join
the march, said he worries that even his honor-student children could get caught
up in street violence.
"Literally, we have to take them everywhere they go so they won't get caught in
the crossfire, they won't be mistaken for being in the wrong crowd," he said.
Miles to the south, marchers in a line 3 blocks long wound through the Burnside
neighborhood, hoisting placards and chanting slogans. Mayor Richard M. Daley and
Police Supt. Philip Cline joined the walk, which was organized by the city's
community policing program.
Rev. JoAnn Long, of the New Covenant Life Church on Cottage Grove Avenue, said
that despite the heavy police presence, many people in the area had little
respect for the law. Her church has been broken into and its members robbed on
their way home from services, and once, when church officials bought a building,
they found a dead body in the adjacent lot.
Activists in Evanston held a "lie-in" as part of a nationwide statement against
gun violence. One by one, organizers said, 32 people clad in black and wearing
orange and maroon sashes lay on the bricks of Fountain Square in remembrance of
the Virginia Tech massacre.
Jennifer Bishop, who lost members of her family to a pistol-wielding teen in
1990, said the rally also was meant to stir state legislators to vote in favor
of gun-control proposals.
ED. NOTE - There were 7 families of
gun violence victims "laying down" at this event to commemorate the 2 month
anniversary of the Virginia Tech shootings. For more information on these
lie-ins being done all over the nation go to
www.protesteasyguns.com There were
also many elected officials there including Cook County Comissioner Larry
Suffredin, State Representatives Harry Osterman and Julie Hamos, and four
members of the Evanston City Council.
Another political demonstration came just over the city line in south suburban
Riverdale, where Rev. Jesse Jackson led a rally outside Chuck's Gun Shop, a
Jackson spokeswoman said. The store has been a target of protesters, who call it
a source of weapons used in crimes.
Though the crowd denounced what they called too-easy access to guns, store owner
John Riggio responded that with firearm owners' cards and background checks, it
is the government that determines who is eligible to buy a weapon.
"It's pretty hard to predict where it will go when it goes out the door," he
said.
Eric Zorn
of the Chicago Tribune has written a powerful statement bringing light to
our efforts in the
May 31, 2007 edition of his column. As usual, he is continuing
the discussion on
his blog. We encourage you to post your comments and provide
feedback on this important issue of abolishing Life Without Parole in
Illinois. The appropriate role of victims' voices in public
discussion of sentencing issues is being debated there.
It’s silly, nationally known victims’ advocate Jennifer Jenkins admits, but she
sees parallels between processing traumatic memories and what happens in the
familiar “I Love Lucy” episode where the ditzy heroine works at a candy factory
wrapping chocolates streaming by on a conveyor belt.
“As the candy is coming along nice and slow, she can neatly wrap them and get
them moving on down the line, but as they come faster and faster, all she can do
is grab them and shove them in her mouth and in her pockets and down her shirt,”
Jenkins said.
So it is with traumatic memories. The horrific news and awful images come at
homicide victims’ loved ones so unexpectedly that there’s no logical place to
put the information in the brain.
“They are in shock,” said Jenkins, who started illinoisvictims.org to advocate
for victims and their families. “There is no time or ability to process
information in any pattern, which is why it stays with you forever. Later on
down the line, when anything comes up that’s the smallest reminder, it brings it
back in a visceral way.”
Jenkins and her husband, Bill, author of “What to Do When the Police Leave,”
will speak at the annual Homicide Survivors’ Support Group Memorial Service next
week. This year’s service is at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Riverside Community Church,
6816 N. Second St., Machesney Park. Participants are asked to bring a picture of
the person who died, and each victim will be recognized.
Anyone who has suffered a traumatic loss is welcome, even it was a long time
ago. Last year, 32 victims were represented and remembered in a candle-lighting
ceremony and balloon release, said Barb Stone, a victims advocate with the
Winnebago County state’s attorney’s office.
“There were people who came whose loved ones were murdered 20 years ago,” said
Stone, who helps organize the annual event. “My feedback was that they were
grateful because they feel it’s not forgotten. They still have an opportunity to
put a face to the loss.”
Jennifer Jenkins’ sister, brother-in-law and their unborn child were slain in
1990 in a home invasion. Bill Jenkins’ 16-year-old son had been on the job at a
fast-food restaurant for only two days when he was shot and killed by an armed
robber in 1997.
“My trauma is 17 years old and I still can’t tell the story without bursting
into tears,” Jennifer Jenkins said. “Trauma is always in the now, which is why
you don’t get over it.
“My husband likens it to a sleeping tiger that you as a victim have to spend all
your life tiptoeing around. The tiger is always at your feet, and you don’t know
when he will wake up and be right there in your face with claws and fangs.”
Bill and Jennifer, who met and married after their individual traumas, will tell
their stories at Wednesday’s ceremony and go through a checklist of what
survivors can do to try to deal with the loss. They also will talk about
victims’ rights and what families should expect from the justice system.
They are particularly concerned about an effort in Illinois by prisoner-advocacy
groups to change sentencing laws in a way that could result in early release for
hundreds of inmates serving life or long-term sentences for heinous crimes.
For more information about the Homicide Survivors’ Support Group, which meets
monthly, or about the ceremony, call Carol Peterson McFeggan, 815-877-6788.
The loss of a sibling, spouse, or child is perhaps one of the most trying
emotional hurdles a person faces. But the aftermath of homicide, including
bringing a criminal to justice, can complicate the grieving process even more.
An event in Machesney Park aims to help the healing.
Death isn't easy no matter what side of the police tape you're on. For the
second annual Homicide Survivors' Support Group memorial service, families and
investigators came together to honor the victims. Gerri Flynn, who's son Eric
was murdered, says, "It's an opportunity to bring together those who suffered a
unique loss."
Eric was killed more than 2 years ago. Today, Gerri finds comfort as she
consoles others who have experienced similar pain. "Let them know they're
supported, cared about. Their loved ones are remembered."
Dozens of people gathered at Riverside Community Church to keep victims'
memories alive. Pastor Bill Kerr says, "We just hope they know their loved one
isn't forgotten."
Each candle lit, each balloon released, a tribute to one of them and a reminder
to never forget.
But the grieving doesn't end here, and neither does the support, especially for
families concerned about the court system. Bill Jenkins, who founded
IllinoisVictims.org, says, "Legislation started to appear in Springfield that
would alter the sentences of people who were long term prisoners."
The bill doesn't require victim's families to be notified of the changes, so
Jenkins founded a group dedicated to keeping victims up to date. "We decided
that if they weren't going to do it, somebody had to. So we formed the
illinoisvictims.org website as a venue for coming out."
The Homicide Survivors' Support Group started up about three years ago. It meets
every month and is open to any one who is grieving.
In case you had difficulty with the previously sent hyperlink, please try the
link below; it should activate smoothly.
Dear Colleague:
Today the National Center for Victims of Crime launched VictimLaw , a
comprehensive, on-line database of state, federal, and tribal victims' rights
laws and protections, developed with funding from the Office for Victims of
Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.
VictimLaw is a unique and groundbreaking resource, offering free, user-friendly
access to information that until now has been difficult to locate. The database
ncludes more than 15,000 victims' rights statutes (state and federal), tribal
laws, constitutional amendments, court rules, and administrative code
provisions. Future additions to the database will include state attorney general
opinions and summaries of court decisions related to victims' rights. VictimLaw
will offer regular updates to the information in the database.
Researchers can search under each of the following rights: the right to attend,
to compensation, to enforcement, to be heard, to be informed, to protection, to
restitution, and to the return of property. VictimLaw offers four ways to
search: by topic, legal term, jurisdiction, and citation. Visit at
http://www.victimlaw.info/
The launch of VictimLaw coincides with National Crime Victims' Rights Week,
April 22-28, an annual observance commemorated in communities throughout the
country.
I am troubled by the patronizing tone and misinformation in the editorial "Where
Victims' Rights Go Wrong" (Barry Boss, Monday, April 23, 2007). I am a murder
victims family member, active in victim advocacy, and in the spirit of this
national week that we try to pay attention to the needs and concerns of victims,
especially one week after the Virginia Tech tragedy that has traumatized the
nation, one has to question the wisdom of the message, and the timing of this
article. Red flags should go up anytime anyone says "I sympathize with victims .
. .BUT . . .".
Further, the author is quite wrong - the right to speak in court (victim impact
statements), the right to consult (be told what the prosecution is planning and
share their own points of view) and the right to be supported and informed
throughout the entire trial is NOT tantamount to being on the prosecution team.
Victims remain some of the most neglected members in our society and the
advances in recognition of victims rights do not even come close to placing
victims in a position of inappropriate "influence" on the cases being tried.
One need look no farther than the current headlines in Chicago where States
Attorney Richard Devine has sought the death penalty in the infamous Brown's
Chicken murders in Palatine, despite the fact that the victims families, 5 out
of 7 of them, want no death penalty in that case.
And victims families will often want harsher sentences, as well, for the
offenders. It is not uncommon that victims will feel that no punishment can be
hard enough, because often it can never come close to what they have suffered.
These cases are always tempered by the full and whole judicial process that
represents the entire citizenry.
Mr. Boss is a defense attorney who clearly has come to see victims families as
the enemy, likely because he has not been properly trained how to understand and
react to their trauma.
I have worked in training with Defense Attorneys so that they can learn to
understand and not be threatened by victims' trauma. They must learn not to see
them as adversaries in the case, but, if the victims so choose, as participants.
It is incredibly important to remember that victims were made participants in
the case by the choices of the offender, not by their own choice.
Even the most basic understanding of psychology reveals the deepest links
between the well-being of the victims and the fate of the offender. That
horrible relationship, created by the offender, has to be handled with the
utmost compassion and delicacy and respect.
Victims Rights are Human Rights. We cannot expect the human and constitutional
rights of the offenders to be respected in any system that does not also respect
the rights of the victims.
Victims need to know what is going on with their case. They need to feel heard.
They need support. They need to be able to understand.
And offenders have rights - the right to counsel, trial, due process, all of the
constitutional protections.
And if all those things happen, then the judicial system, which does not and
should not make decisions based on what are the wishes of the victims families
alone, but on what is just for society as a whole, can know that it has helped
to heal the injuries done when people choose to do evil things - to hurt each
other.
Jennifer Bishop-Jenkins
http://www.illinoisvictims.org/
And the original editorial:
Where Victims' Rights Go Wrong
Washington Post By Barry Boss
Monday, April 23, 2007; A17
Since 1981, the Justice Department's Office for Victims of Crime has dedicated a
week in April to recognizing crime victims' rights. The week -- this year's
observance began yesterday -- is usually marked by rallies, candlelight vigils
and other activities intended to promote victims' rights and to honor crime
victims and those who work on their behalf.
Victims deserve the recognition that this week provides, and they deserve
sympathy and compensation for their losses. But I am increasingly concerned
about what I believe they do not deserve, which is the right to serve as de
facto prosecutors, a practice that is quietly insinuating itself into the legal
system.
Our desire to increase victims' rights is closely related to our national
obsession with being "tough on crime." While this mantra makes for good
political rhetoric, it often leads to illogical and irrational criminal justice
policies. Being "tough on crime" has led to harsh mandatory minimum sentences in
federal drug cases that have disproportionately punished minorities. It has
resulted in first-time offenders serving life sentences even though their crimes
involved no weapon and resulted in no physical injuries; in 6-year-olds being
arrested for tantrums at school; and, worst of all, in innocent people on death
row.
Courts have increasingly become more cognizant of the rights of victims. In
1996, restitution became mandatory for a variety of federal crimes. In 2002,
Congress provided the victims of violent crimes and sexual abuse the right to
speak at a defendant's sentencing, even though courts already had latitude in
any kind of case to permit victims to speak at sentencing or to receive
information from victims before sentences were imposed. And last year, the issue
reached the Supreme Court in a murder case in which the victim's supporters had
attended the trial wearing buttons that displayed a picture of the victim (the
court avoided addressing whether such conduct is prejudicial).
The latest manifestation of our "tough on crime" policy comes in the proposed
amendments to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, which will implement the
2004 Crime Victims' Rights Act. One U.S. district judge ruled that the statute
renders victims "independent participant[s] in the proceedings" and "commands
that victims should be treated equally with the defendant, defense counsel, and
the prosecutor."
Under the act, victims have the right to be heard in court on questions of bond,
plea agreements and sentencing, and they have the right to confer with
prosecutors about a case. If victims are unhappy with how a prosecutor or trial
court has treated them, they are permitted to seek relief in the U.S. Court of
Appeals, and the appellate court must rule on their application within 72 hours
(an unprecedented remedy).
Thus, under the act, victims at a minimum become a member of the prosecution
team and, indeed, have significant leverage over the professional prosecutors.
The president and many in Congress support an amendment for crime victims'
rights that would incorporate several of these points into the Constitution.
While we may support the notion that victims' rights should be at least as
strong as those of defendants, within the context of the criminal justice system
these rights are mutually exclusive. Any rights provided to the victim must come
at the expense of the rights provided to a defendant. Indeed, providing the
victim with a role in the prosecution assumes a crime has been committed,
despite the bedrock constitutional proposition that the accused is presumed
innocent.
When we turn victims into members of the prosecution team, we distort a process,
so carefully constructed more than 200 years ago, that eschewed vigilante
justice or prosecution for personal ends in favor of prosecution by the
sovereign with significant rights afforded to the accused. We expect prosecutors
to make decisions about whom to prosecute and what types of sentences to seek
based on myriad considerations, including, but far from limited to, the
interests of victims. Where victims play a controlling role in the prosecution,
the consideration of those factors no longer focuses on what is best for society
but rather on what victims need or want as "justice."
I sympathize with individuals victimized by criminals. I understand their anger,
outrage and desire for vengeance, particularly when faced with the kind of
malevolence displayed last week at Virginia Tech. Securing assistance and
compensation for victims is an unquestionable priority, and we need to promote
healing to the greatest extent possible.
But the criminal justice system cannot focus on the victim; rather, it must
follow its rich tradition of protecting society as a whole, ensuring that
justice is achieved in accordance with the Constitution. As we appropriately
focus on improving the plight of crime victims this week, let's not forget about
the plight of the falsely accused or of the criminal justice system itself.
The writer, a criminal defense lawyer in Washington, is a former assistant
federal public defender and former co-chairman of the U.S. Sentencing
Commission's Practitioners' Advisory Group
"As we observe the 27th Annual National Crime Victims' Rights Week, our hearts
go out to the families of those killed and injured at Virginia Tech in
Blacksburg, Virginia. We share their loss and their pain. Fortunately, we live
in an America where love and sympathy extend beyond idle emotion, and take the
form of kindness, support, and a comforting hand. We are working with law
enforcement, victims' advocates, and others in the Blacksburg area and across
the country to provide services to those affected by the tragedy at the
university on April 16.
"Although we take just one week to bring the public's attention to crime
victims, recent events are an unfortunate reminder that violent crime and its
impact on individuals and communities is an important issue every day of the
year.
"We will remember and honor the victims in Blacksburg and all those who have
suffered losses because of violence when we gather in Washington, DC, for our
National Observance and Candlelight Ceremony on April 19. Our guest speaker at
the Candlelight Ceremony will be Mark Lunsford, whose young daughter Jessica was
murdered in 2005, and who since has become a staunch advocate for protecting
children. On April 20, we will present awards to recognize the courage,
generosity, and compassion of crime victims and advocates around the nation. We
also will be supporting events around the nation to recognize victims' rights.
"We all are saddened by the magnitude of the tragedy in Blacksburg and, yet, we
remain hopeful that the
programs we support will help make our communities safer and, when
necessary, our efforts will bring comfort to the victims who need our
assistance."
April 22 – 28, 2007 is National Crime Victims’
Rights Week. The theme for this year is “Victims’ Rights: Every Victim, Every
Time.” As victims, and survivors, we strongly support efforts to ensure that
the needs of victims’ don’t fall through the cracks or fall prey to politics.
The death penalty does not serve victims’
families. It draws resources away from needed support programs, law enforcement
and crime prevention. And the trials and appeals endlessly re-open wounds as
they are beginning to heal, and it only creates more families who lose loved
ones to killing.
Alternatives to the death penalty provide the
certainty and punishment that many families need while keeping our communities
safe. Critically, alternatives ensure attention is cast where it is needed most
– on the survivors – and not on sensational trials or suspects.
As murder victim family members we also share the
same concerns as other Americans with the death penalty. We are concerned about
innocent people being sentenced to death, about racial and economic disparities
and about arbitrariness. But for us the stakes are higher because an innocent
person might be executed in a misguided attempt to give us justice. Losing one
innocent life to murder is one too many, the taking of another innocent life
because of the first is beyond comprehension.
Those who argue for the death penalty often claim
to do so on behalf of us, the victims’ families. They say it will give us
“closure.” We don’t want the death penalty, and closure is a myth. Every
victim, every time needs help, understanding, resources, and support. We don’t
need more killing.
Pat Clark
Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation
Bill Pelke
Journey of Hope
Renny Cushing
Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights
