Assignment 12.1: Legal Rights of Victims
Marcilena Torres
Professor Titus
6 December 2015

Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994

• the Violence against Women Act, which provides financial support for police, prosecutors, & victims' services in cases involving sexual violence or domestic abuse
• a right of allocution provision, permitting victims of federal violent and sex crimes to speak at the sentencing of their assailants
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• a requirement that federal sex offenders and child molesters pay restitution to their victims
• additional money for the federal Crime Victims' fund and the victim-support programs it funds.

The act has been one the most far-reaching victims rights bill to be ever considered.

Victims' rights are as followed: right to protect from intimidation and harm; right to be informed concerning the criminal justice process; right to reparations; right to preservation of property and employment; right to due process in criminal court proceedings; right to be treated with dignity and compassion.

Victims' rights also include the use of the victim impact sentence. The victim impact sentence is a written document that describes all losses, suffering, and trauma experienced by crime victims or by those whom have survived the crime, such as family members. However, this sentence doesn't determine the sentencing range for the offender. With all of the victims' rights provided, victims should definitely play a bigger role throughout crimes. The system should also be fully responsible for exceeding these rights in order to progress through the justice system.

Works Cited

Schmalleger, Frank, and Daniel Hall. Criminal Law Today. 5th ed. Boston: Prentice Hall, 2014. Print.