Report: 7th Annual Crime Victim Law & Litigation Conference
by Linda Wedlake
Director, Protective Orders Advocacy Program
I attended this two-day (May 30-31) conference hosted by the National Crime Victim Law Institute (NCVLI) at the Marriott Hotel on the Portland Waterfront in order to expand my and our agency’s knowledge of crime victims’ rights and to network with fellow professionals in the field. Here’s a brief overview of the sessions.
Victim’s Rights 101 provided an overview of crime victims’ rights and outlined the core rights of victims within a criminal case. Sadly, the overall message looked great on paper but as it stands in most states, including Oregon, victims’ rights do not always mean the victim will feel they are being represented properly within the justice system.
Crossing a New Oregon Frontier… Making Crime Victims’ Rights Enforceable was a lunch plenary presented by Oregon’s Attorney General, Hardy Myers. References were made to Section 42 of the Oregon Constitution’s Bill of Rights and to the recently passed Measures 51 and 52 on crime victim’s rights in Oregon. The Measures passed by the people but not while in session in the legislature, so there is still work to be done.
Responding to Stalking Victims was an advanced session on how advocates and lawyers deal with the endless struggle of addressing the needs of stalking victims. Course of conduct and context are everything in addressing stalking cases that need to be taken seriously by law enforcement, prosecutors, judges and probation services. Stalkers who are incarcerated will most likely re-offend once released from prison.
Year in Review: The Top Cases from 2007-2008 provided an overview of important cases, both state and federally-based, that have been successful in establishing rights for crime victims and/or their families.
Implications of ABA Standards of Practice for Lawyers Representing Victims of Domestic Violence, Sexual Abuse and Stalking provided a sample of standards that would provide for high quality representation and increased awareness of the need for victim assistance in these types of cases.
Victims’ Rights: One Attorney’s Perspective from on the Bench and in Front of the Bench was a lunch plenary presented by a former Federal District Court Judge. This presentation was extremely informative on how to present, or not, arguments to judges who might be considering victims’ rights cases.
Technology Abuse: Protecting Victim Safety, Privacy, and Confidentiality provided an insight into the ever-growing reliance of our communities on technology and the cons that exist when it comes to societal predators. This workshop provided tips on how to best manage technology when someone misuses it to harm innocent parties.
This two-day conference was an amazing overview of the many programs that are available to crime victims. The NCVLI is located at the Lewis & Clark Law School, and is a resource for advocates, attorneys and victims to help with their quest for justice and closure within the system. One huge lesson I learned from this conference was that while crime victims deserve to have their rights upheld and respected, the system is called the “criminal justice system”, which is important to relay to our clients. Advocates can help to ease the pain of becoming a crime victim, but the system will continue to provide offenders with the justice the system was designed to represent.
Further information is at: www.ncvli.org.
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