Posted: April 26th, 2022

Criminal Law and Procedures

Exercise Content

Research victims’ rights in several different states. Compare and contrast the victims’ rights in the different states. Critique the different rights and identify which are most important. (3 – 4 pages, Time New Roman, 12-point font, double-spaced). Two scholarly journal articles should be included as references.

Criminal Law and Procedures
The Criminal Justice System and Its Procedures
The entitlements in the law to which individuals who have been victimized by criminal activity are entitled are known as victims’ rights. The rights of victims include, among other things, the right to an advocate, the right to restitution, the right to not be excluded from criminal justice proceedings, the right to notification, the right to consult an attorney, and the right to speak during a criminal justice proceeding. Other victims’ rights include the right to not be excluded from criminal justice proceedings. All of the states have voted to enact legislation that protects the rights of victims, and the majority of states have also voted to enact constitutional amendments that can protect those who have been victimized by crime. These rights vary from state to state due to the fact that some of them only apply to victims of felony offenses while others apply to victims of misdemeanor offenses, which are considered to be less serious than felony offenses.
The right to be treated with respect and dignity; the right to protection; the right to seek compensation from a state’s victims fund; these are some of the rights that victims have across the country, regardless of the state in which they were victimized. The right to be informed about the prosecution, plea offers, court proceedings, and sentencing; the right to make a statement in court at the time of sentencing; the right to restitution from the offender; the right to return of the personal property; and the right to be informed of parole proceedings or release from incarceration, as well as the right to make a statement to the parole board; and the right to enforcement of victim’s rights, amongst other rights.
In the various offices of the prosecuting attorneys, there are victims’ rights officers as well as a variety of other people who Help victims of crime both during and after the course of a prosecution (National Criminal Justice Reference Service). Any person who has been the victim of a crime and is interested in receiving restitution or compensation is required to submit a claim in a timely manner for compensation to the department of probation or the prosecuting attorney, along with documentation to back up their claim. This is done to ensure that the restitution order includes the amount in situations where the defendant is sentenced. The right to attend proceedings pertaining to criminal justice is protected in twenty-four of the fifty states, while the right to attend criminal justice proceedings is issued by thirty-five states.
During the process of sentencing, there are courts in every state that take into consideration the impact of information provided by a victim. At hearings, victims are allowed to make oral statements in all but one of the nation’s forty-one states. As a component of the presentence report, the information on the victim’s impact is virtually obligatory in all states. At least one half of the states have passed laws requiring the court to take into consideration the information when making sentencing decisions. The rights of victims in Alabama include the right to be present in all court proceedings, the right to refuse an interview request made by a defendant, the right to receive information before a sentence, the right to receive an investigative report before a sentence, and the right to have personal belongings or property returned, amongst other rights.
The victim service unit in Virginia is responsible for providing advocacy, notification of changes in the event of an inmate transfer, name change, capture, or escape, as well as the date of release. Other services provided by the victim service unit include the date of release. The victim has the right to be informed about the process of probation and parole supervision, as well as the right to receive education, training, and participate in public awareness initiatives (National Criminal Justice Reference Service). In order to fulfill its mission, the victim service unit is required to offer victims ongoing support, referrals, crisis intervention, and information. The victims also have the right to be protected and to have their cases resolved quickly. Victims have the legal right to be informed of developments in their cases, which enables them to better protect their rights.
In the state of California, victims have certain rights, including the right to be treated fairly and with respect, the right to privacy and dignity, and the right to be free from acts such as intimidation, harassment, and abuse while the case is being handled by the juvenile or criminal justice system. In addition, the victims have the right to be protected from the defendant as well as anyone acting in the defendant’s stead, regardless of who that person may be. The right to the victim’s safety, as well as the safety of the victim’s family, is one of the factors that goes into determining the amount of bail and the conditions under which the defendant is released from custody. One of these rights is the right of the victim to have his or her privacy respected. The victim has the right to be shielded from the disclosure of sensitive information to the defendant, his attorney, or a person acting on behalf of the defendant. This protection extends to all parties involved in the case.
First and foremost among the most significant rights afforded to victims is the right to attend legal proceedings. The victims and their families are afforded the opportunity to be present throughout the proceedings. This right extends to the victims themselves (International Assoc of Chiefs of Police, & United States of America, 2020). The right means a great deal to victims who take pleasure in seeing the operation of their local criminal court system. The right to compensation comes in at number two. Crime victim compensation refers to the program run by the government to financially Help people who have been the victims of violent crimes. The family member who was adversely affected or those who survived are eligible for some form of compensation. The law is enforced in the state in which the offense was committed.
The right to information comes in at number three. The criminal justice system has a responsibility to provide victims with general information that may be of interest to them. In the majority of states, the families of those who were wrongfully killed have the legal right to be informed of any significant upcoming criminal proceedings as well as the decisions that were reached in those hearings. The fourth is the right to privacy, given that concerns about victims’ ability to maintain their privacy during the criminal justice process have been an issue. The victims are frequently subjected to harassment or retaliation from the offenders, who are able to learn the victims’ names and locations through public records or court testimony, which discourages the victims from seeking justice.
The right to protection is the fifth one, and the majority of states provide victims of crime with the right to be protected during the process of the criminal justice system. The right can be expressed in the form of a more generalized right to protection, or it can involve specific protective measures. It is necessary to provide the victim with information regarding the protection measures that are available to them. The right to restitution, which is the right to restoration of any form of damage caused by the defendant, is the sixth of a defendant’s constitutionally protected rights. The act of returning or repairing something that has been damaged or stolen can also be referred to as restitution, although paying for damages is the most prevalent type of restitution.
The consensus among the states is that it is in everyone’s best interest to ensure that the accused have certain rights. The rights of victims have become a topic of discussion in more recent times. Before beginning an investigation of the degree to which victims are entitled to certain rights, it is important to note from the outset that politicians and policymakers have a propensity to use language that is framed in terms of the language pertaining to victims’ rights (Kirchengast, 2016). After that, the concept diverges from that of legal rights, which means that it might be enforceable through the judicial system. There are no rights that protect victims from being held in custody following an arrest, during the time that passes between an arrest and the hearing in court, or while victims are cross-examined by the council responsible for the crime.
In conclusion, some of the victims continue to be denied their rights to be a part of the legal system in any capacity, despite the fact that they have participated in some form. The majority of legislation enacted to protect victims’ rights are not effectively enforced. Again, the majority of these states have failed to enact reforms that are fundamental, such as including the victim in decisions regarding pretrial release, which is an important act. Other important acts include victim protection from harm and intimidation, the granting of bail, and rights for victims of juvenile offenders that are comprehensive. Consultation with victims by prosecutors prior to the negotiation of plea deals is another proposed improvement. High legal protection makes a tremendous impact, yet even in areas where legal protection is strong, there are victims who are denied their rights. This happens even in states where there is strong legal protection.

References
(n.d.). National Criminal Justice Reference Service | NCJRS. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/173839.pdf
(n.d.). National Criminal Justice Reference Service | NCJRS. https://www.ncjrs.gov/ovc_archives/directions/pdftxt/chap1.pdf
International Assoc of Chiefs of Police, & United States of America. (2020). Victims’ Rights Jurisdiction Profiles.
Kirchengast, T. (2016). Enforceable rights for victims of crime in adversarial justice.

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