Should Funding Crime Victims’ Rights Be a Justice Department Priority?
Recently, of course, the Trump Administration has been searching for ways to reduce federal government spending, searching for wasteful or duplicative programs. As part of that comprehensive effort, the Justice Department recently announced that some of its programs will be cut, including some programs involving services for crime victims. Catholic University law professor Mary Leary has recently published this op-ed calling attention to the cuts and urging the Department to exercise caution in cutting these programs. While I don’t know the details as well as Professor Leary does, I want to join her in generally urging the Department to maintain as much funding as possible for crime victim support, particularly for legal services to victims in criminal cases.
I’ve seen news reports that Attorney General Bondi is restoring some funding that was initially slated to be cut. I hope that some of the other funding can be restored as well. And, more important, going forward it is critical that funding for crime victims’ services continues to be one of the Justice Department’s priorities.
As one example of the cuts, the National Crime Victim Law Institute (NCVLI) had a substantial part of its funding slashed. In 2004, funding for NCVLI was linked to the passage of the Crime Victims’ Rights Act (CVRA). Since then, NCVLI has helped establish legal clinics in a number of states across the country, including in my home state of Utah. These clinics assist crime victims to protect their rights in criminal proceedings. I discuss some of these long-standing and important efforts by the legal clinics in my article about the history of the Crime Victims’ Rights Movement (at pp. 93-94).
One of the often-overlooked benefits of supporting crime victims in protecting their rights in criminal cases is that it allows an independent voice to be presented. Victim service providers help to amplify that voice, by supporting efforts of crime victims to present arguments that might otherwise be overlooked—creating a valuable and independent perspective on how criminal cases should proceed. An example comes from an amicus brief, which I help
Article from Reason.com
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