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opinion:
our view
Making
move towards victim's rights
A constitutional amendment was introduced in the Senate Monday
that aims to guarantee the rights of crime victims. If approved
by Congress and ratified by the states, the proposal would
become the 28th Amendment to the Constitution, the first since
a 1992 amendment that changed when senators and representatives
may receive a salary increase.
The goal of the
proposed amendment is to give crime victims rights equal to
or greater than the rights guaranteed to accused criminals.
The amendment declares that "the rights of victims of violent
crime, being capable of protection without denying the constitutional
rights of those accused of victimizing them, are hereby established
and shall not be denied by any state or the United States."
Backers of the
amendment, including President Bush, said they are seeking
to amend the Constitution instead of passing a new federal
law because most judges and prosecutors don't pay as much
attention to federal statutes as they do to the Constitution.
The proposed amendment,
sponsored by Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Jon Kyl,
R-Ariz., would require courts to notify victims of trial dates,
allow judges and juries to listen to victim's experiences
and require courts to consider victims as claims of restitution,
the Associated Press reported.
This proposed amendment
is an outstanding step by both the Senate and the Bush administration
to ensure the rights that are deserved by crime victims. Victims
are more often than not viewed as simply bystanders to the
actual crimes that befall them.
But victims are
not merely bystanders. Not allowing them to take part in all
criminal proceedings and sentencing is only victimizing them
again.
In an Associated
Press article Tuesday, the news organization cites the story
of a Utah mother whose 10-year-old son was molested. Prosecutors
allowed the accused molester to plea down to a misdemeanor
charge against objections from the mother. She was not allowed
to speak with the judge until the day of the man's sentencing.
In a case such
as this, the accused criminal was afforded all the rights
guaranteed to him by the Constitution while the victim and
his family were simply left in the dark.
Choosing to amend
the Constitution is the right decision by Bush and the Senate.
It is imperative that crime victims be afforded equal if not
more rights than the people that are accused of victimizing
them.
Trying to pass
a federal law might be easier for Congress, but it could not
be enforced in state courts where the majority of criminal
cases are resolved, Kyl told the AP.
Victims have been
treated far too long as mere bystanders to the horrible events
that have befallen them. We think that Congress and Bush are
making a profound and historic move that should have been
made long ago.
We hope the members
of Congress and the state legislatures will see the importance
of this proposed amendment and ensure that it is passed and
ratified with the ease and speediness that it deserves.
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