Victims' Rights Amendment: A Proposal to Amend the United States Constitution in the 108th Congress

Publication Date: April 2004

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Justice

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Abstract:

Thirty-three states have added a victims' rights amendment to their state constitutions. S.J.Res. 1/H.J.Res. 48/H.J.Res. 10 would add a victims' rights amendment to the United States Constitution. The amendment is identical to proposals offered in the 107th Congress (S.J.Res. 35/H.J.Res. 88/H.J.Res. 91) and has been endorsed by the President. Similar proposals date back to the 104th Congress.

The proposed amendment grants the victims of state and federal violent crimes the right: to reasonable and timely notice of public proceedings relating to the crime; to reasonable and timely notice of the release or escape of the accused; not to be excluded from such public proceedings; reasonably to be heard at public release, plea, sentencing, reprieve, and pardon proceedings; and to adjudicative decisions that give due consideration to victims' interests in their safety, in avoiding unreasonable delay and to consideration of their just and timely claims for restitution from the offender.

The rights may not be restricted except to the extent dictated by a substantial interest in public safety or the administration of criminal justice or by compelling necessity. Only victims and their representatives may enforce the rights, but they may not do so through a claim for damages or request to reopen a completed trial. Congress is otherwise empowered to enact legislation for the amendment's enforcement.

The proposed amendment is the product of efforts to reconcile victims' rights, the constitutional rights of defendants, and prosecutorial prerogatives. The hearings on current and past proposals and three Senate Judiciary Committee reports (S.Rept. 108-191; S.Rept. 105-409; S.Rept. 106-254) provide insight as to the intent of language used and proposed language implicitly rejected.

Proponents and their critics disagree over the need for the proposed Amendment, its meaning, its propriety, its costs, and its effect on federalism.

This report appears in abridged form under the title Victims' Rights Amendment: A Sketch of a Proposal in the 108th Congress to Amend the United States Constitution, CRS Report RS21434.