[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 24047]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   AUTHORIZE FUNDING FOR THE NATIONAL CRIME VICTIM LAW INSTITUTE FOR 
 VICTIMS UNDER CRIME VICTIMS LEGAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS AS PART OF THE 
                      VICTIMS OF CRIME ACT OF 1984

                                  _____
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON-LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 3, 2008

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of 
S. 3641, ``A bill to authorize funding for the National Crime Victim 
Law Institute to provide support for victims of crime under Crime 
Victims Legal Assistance Programs as a part of the Victims of Crime Act 
of 1984,'' introduced by Senator Kyl.


              National Crime Victim Law Institute (NCVLI)

  Doug Beloof is professor of law at Lewis & Clark Law School. He 
founded the National Crime Victim Law Institute, NCVLI, in 1998, with 
the understanding that so many victims of crimes are in the dark about 
not only their cases, but their rights.
  The institute promotes balance and fairness in the justice system 
through crime-victim-centered legal advocacy, education, and resource 
sharing.
  NCVLI provides legal technical assistance to attorneys and advocates 
of victims and educates lawyers, judges, law students, victims' 
advocates, the law enforcement community, and the public about victims' 
rights. NCVLI also administers Federal grants to 8 clinics across the 
Nation that offer pro bono legal help for victims of sexual assault, 
homicide, domestic violence, fraud, and more.
  Over the past 4 years alone, NCVLI's clinics have represented more 
than 735 victims, made nearly 1,000 court appearances, and filed over 
500 documents on behalf of victims. Over the same time period, NCVLI's 
headquarters office has responded to nearly 2,000 requests for legal 
technical assistance and trained over 12,000 people in victims' rights.
  Sadly, more than 17 States have no victims' rights amendment to their 
constitutions. Even in Texas, one of the 33 States that have made 
rights for crime victims constitutional, victims and criminal justice 
professionals often do not know the rights exist, let alone whether 
those rights are routinely asserted and enforced in criminal courts.
  Rights that are enforceable afford victims critical information such 
as timely notification of upcoming hearings and proceedings involving 
their case, and also provide victims participatory status, including 
the right to be present in the courtroom to watch the proceedings, the 
right to confer with the prosecutor, the right to protection from the 
accused and those acting on behalf of the accused, the right to be 
heard at sentencing following the conviction of their offender, and the 
right to restitution.


                            Juvenile Victims

  Even more disturbing, is the growing number of victims who are 
children. Between 1980 and 2002, an estimated 46,600 juveniles were 
murdered in the United States--1,600 in 2002. Homicides of juveniles 
peaked in 1993 at 2,900.
  The number of juvenile homicide victims in 2002 was 44 percent below 
the 1993 peak, reaching its lowest level since 1984. Juveniles 
represented about 10 percent of all murder victims in 2002.
  In 2002, 36 percent of murdered juveniles were female, 45 percent 
were Black, and 48 percent were killed with a firearm. Of the juvenile 
murder victims with known offenders in 2002, 38 percent were killed by 
family members, 47 percent by acquaintances, and 15 percent by 
strangers.
  In 2002, the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control within 
the Centers for Disease Control, listed homicide as the fourth leading 
cause of death for children ages 1 through 11 and third for youth ages 
12 to 17. Between 1980 through 2002, juvenile offenders participated in 
1 of every 4 homicides of juveniles in which the offenders were known 
to law enforcement.
  According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports tracking all murder 
victims, in 2006 about 50 percent of murder victims were Black, 47 
percent were White, and 3 percent were Asians, Pacific Islander, and 
Native Americans.


                               Conclusion

  There is an Angolan Proverb that says: ``The one who throws the stone 
forgets; the one who is hit remembers forever.'' The National Crime 
Victim Law Institute ensures that the ones who are hit, the ones who 
are raped, the ones who are murdered--are never forgotten. They and 
their loved ones are aided in this overly complicated criminal justice 
system where often the rights of the victim get lost.
  This legislation allows us to finally spend time on those who need 
our help the most--the victims. I urge, my colleagues to support S. 
3641 and ensure that the victims are not forgotten.

                          ____________________