Victims' Rights: Past & Present

THIS SITE IS CURRENTLY BEING RECONSTRUCTED. VISIT AFTER 11/26

Nearly two decades ago, another grassroots effort led by the survivors of homicide victims, other victims of crime, and concerned citizens who supported our efforts resulted in passage of the Crime Victims' Rights Amendment to the NJ State Constitution. Only the second time the Constitution had been amended in the history of NJ - the first giving women the right to vote - the Crime Victim's Rights Amendment took effect on December 5, 1991. Since that time Article 1, Paragraph 22 has read:

"A victim of crime shall be treated with fairness, compassion and respect by the criminal justice system. A victim of crime shall not be denied the right to be present at public judicial proceedings except when, prior to completing testimony, as a witness, the victim is properly sequestered in accordance with law or the Rules Governing the Courts of the State of New Jersey. A victim of a crime shall be entitled to those rights and remedies as may be provided by the Legislature. For the purposes of this paragraph, victim of a crime means: a) A person who has suffered physical or psychological injury or has incurred loss of or damage to personal or real property as a result of a crime or an accident involving another person operating a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs or alcohol; and b) the spouse, parent, legal guardian, grandparent, child or sibling of the decedent in the case of criminal homicide."

During the months and years following passage of the Crime Victims' Rights Amendment, it was especially meaningful to those who had strived for its passage to witness the bi-partisan efforts of legislators to enact laws that would protect our citizens from becoming victims of crime and provide better treatment of those who did. These bills included:

"Megan's Law," which established a sex-offender notification system

"No Early Release," requiring inmates to serve at least 80% of their sentence prior to consideration for parole

"Nielsa's Law," enabling survivors to display a photograph of their murdered loved one at the time of sentencing, and other victims' rights legislation.

More recently we succeeded in advocating for passage of a bill that would ensure Federal funds are used as intended - to serve victims of crime - and legislation was passed to eliminate high salaried and "lo-show" political patronage positions at the NJ Victims of Crime Compensation Board. Overall, however, we have seen a distinct system-wide shift away from victims' rights.

Judging from a growing number of complaints from victim advocates across the state, there is a clear indication that the pendulum has begun to shift back to its original position of victim exclusion and apathy to their needs - impacting long-standing and dedicated victim assistance programs - and more importantly those they serve!

Your involvement in this new grassroots movement for victims' rights will require some of your time and passion. In return, you will receive the satisfaction of knowing at the end of the day, and as you move through the rest of your life, that you did the right thing - not only for the victims of crime you may never meet - but also for those you love dearly!

"Justice while due to the accused, is due to the accuser as well."

~ Chief Justice Cardozo