What Is the Purpose of a Victim Impact Statement

The courtroom is not well suited to support the healing process, especially compared to victim-perpetrator mediation, where mediators are trained to manage the emotions at play and carefully select and prepare participants. In a courtroom, judges have no such training, no one ensures that defendants respond appropriately, and victims are supported by prosecutors whose agendas do not always match the needs of victims. It is up to you whether you want to make a victim impact statement. However, no one knows better than you how this crime has changed your life. It is very important that you help the committee members understand all the ways in which this crime has affected you and your loved ones. Whether you choose to file a victim impact statement is up to you and your family. It is a voluntary right that you have as a victim of crime. Victim impact statements give committee members an opportunity to understand how this crime affected you, your family and loved ones. Many victims found it helpful to tell how their lives were affected physically, financially, emotionally and even spiritually by the crime committed against them. Victims and their families last spoke at probation hearings, shortly before the committee`s deliberations.

Statements usually take 5 to 15 minutes. The first such declaration in the United States was introduced in Fresno, California, in 1976 and adopted in California in 1982 because Doris Tate feared that members of the Manson family cult that killed her daughter Sharon Tate in 1969 would be eligible for parole. In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Payne v. Tennessee that victim testimony made by family members of crime victims is admissible at sentencing hearings, overturning its own decision from two years earlier in Booth v. Maryland. The Booth decision had prohibited statements, viewing them as emotionally charged testimony that would divert the jury`s attention from the accused`s responsibility for the crime and focus it on the character and identity of the victim. Payne not only dismissed these concerns; He noted that the testimony was valuable precisely because it reminded jurors and judges “that the victim is a person whose death represents a unique loss to society and especially to his family.” It rejected the argument that statements would influence the conviction on the basis of irrelevant factors such as the attractiveness, severity, social class or race of the victim. In addition, sociologist David Karp of Skidmore and his co-author found that jurors who heard testimony about the impact on victims viewed the loss and grief of black families as less important than the feelings of white families. This finding raises concerns that victim impact statements will exaggerate an effect that is already widely documented in capital punishment cases: jurors tend to prioritize the lives of white victims over those of black victims. Victims of crime can request transcripts of probation hearings 30 days after the hearing date.

For more information, see: www.cdcr.ca.gov/BOPH/psh_transcript.html or call 1-877-256-6877 As you prepare your Impact Statement, you may find that the following questions can guide you. Keep in mind that writing about your feelings can be very painful, so make sure you speed yourself up and don`t feel like you have to have it “perfect.” Be gentle with yourself and take as many breaks as necessary. As you prepare your testimony, you may find that the following questions may guide you: Your victim testimony is one of the things that the judge or magistrate will consider when deciding on the sentence to impose on the offender. In Finland, the victim has the right to recommend a sentence other than that recommended by the Public Prosecutor`s Office. [2] One of the purposes of the statement is to give the person or persons most directly affected by the offence the opportunity to appeal to the court during the decision-making process. It is seen as personalizing the crime and increasing the status of the victim. From the victim`s point of view, it is considered useful to help him recover emotionally from his ordeal. It has also been suggested that they can confront an offender with the consequences of his or her crime and thus support rehabilitation. Only you know how best to describe the impact of this crime on you and your loved ones. We are aware that it can be difficult to describe in words how this crime has affected you.

To support yourself in your thoughts and feelings, it is recommended to write a statement of effect on paper. There is no conclusive evidence as to whether the reports are intended to help victims of violent crime or how they are intended to help victims or their families. Some victims can only benefit from the opportunity to make a statement in a formal courtroom. But victims can also expect a reaction from their audience – more than silence and a neutral look. Sometimes victims get the answer they need. One rape victim featured in the 2013 Canadian study spoke emotionally of the judge`s assurance that she was not to blame and her acknowledgement of her pain. “Because of what the judge said, it was so easy to leave the court and start my life,” she said. But you can`t count on that kind of reaction. The judges in the Minnesota study admitted that they often did not know how to respond to statements about the impact on victims, or feared losing their authority if they stepped out of their apathetic role.