A Proposed Constitutional Amendment to Protect Crime Victims: Hearing Before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Fifth Congress, Second Session on S.J. Res. 44, a Bill Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of the United States to Protect the Rights of Crime Victims, April 28, 1998, Volume 4U.S. Government Printing Office, 1999 - 199 pages |
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accused amend the Constitution Amendment's Attorney balance battered women believe Bill of Rights Cassell Committee compelling interest concerns conflict Congress Const constitutional protections constitutional rights convicted courtroom courts crime victims crimes of violence criminal defendants criminal justice system defendant's DIANNE FEINSTEIN domestic violence due process example federal constitutional amendment Fourteenth Amendment guarantee heard implement issue Joseph Biden Judiciary language Laurence Tribe legislation ment Mosteller National Victim Center offender Oklahoma City bombing participatory rights plea bargaining Professor proposed amendment prosecution prosecutors Question reason remedies restitution Rights Constitutional Amendment rights of crime rights of defendants rights of victims Rights Study S.J. Res Senator FEINSTEIN Senator KYL Senator Leahy sentencing speedy trial statement statutes statutory strong protection supra note testimony tims tion tional U.S. Constitution U.S. Senate Utah victim rights amendment victims of crime victims of violent violation weak protection witnesses
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Page 82 - IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 15 (legislative day, MAT 13), 1987 Mr. ROTH introduced the following joint resolution; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary JOINT RESOLUTION Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relative to limiting campaign expenditures. 1 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives...
Page 37 - In addition to the general concern that all accused persons be treated according to decent and fair procedures, there is a societal interest in providing a speedy trial which exists separate from and at times in opposition to the interests of the accused.
Page 22 - ... rights. While the amendment has improved the treatment of victims, it does not provide the unequivocal command that is needed to completely change old ways. In our state, as in others, the existing rights too often "fail to provide meaningful protection whenever they come into conflict with bureaucratic habit, traditional indifference, sheer inertia or the mere mention of an accused's rights — even when those rights are not genuinely threatened.
Page 37 - This guarantee is an important safeguard to prevent undue and oppressive incarceration prior to trial, to minimize anxiety and concern accompanying public accusation and to limit the possibilities that long delay will impair the ability of an accused to defend himself.
Page 85 - ... have a tendency to impress some degree of respect for them, to establish the public opinion in their favor, and rouse the attention of the whole community, it may be one means to control the majority from those acts to which they might be otherwise inclined.
Page 116 - Legislation which alters the meaning of the Free Exercise Clause cannot be said to be enforcing the Clause. Congress does not enforce a constitutional right by changing what the right is. It has been given the power "to enforce," not the power to determine what constitutes a constitutional violation.
Page 87 - ... foundation of an aristocracy or despotism. It will be a desirable thing to extinguish from the bosom of every member of the community, any apprehensions that there are those among his countrymen who wish to deprive them of the liberty for which they valiantly fought and honorably bled. And if there are amendments desired of such a nature as will not injure the Constitution, and they can be ingrafted so as to give satisfaction to the doubting part of our fellow-citizens, the friends of the Federal...
Page 21 - Pursuing and punishing criminals makes little sense unless society does so in a manner that fully respects the rights of their victims to be accorded dignity and respect, to be treated fairly in all relevant proceedings, and to be assured a meaningful opportunity to observe, and take part in, all such proceedings. These are the very kinds of rights with which our Constitution is typically and properly concerned. Specifically, our Constitution's central concerns involve protecting the rights of individuals...
Page 147 - United States Constitution, in this case. But a remedy is ordinarily realized through litigation. Before this amendment goes any further, therefore, it is incumbent upon those who support it to show how victims will or might litigate to realize their rights, and what their doing so implies for other rights in our constitutional system. I can imagine several scenarios under this amendment, none of which is clear, all of which — by virtue of being constitutionalized — will make the plight of victims...
Page 90 - ... have little value other than to inflame the debate; the amendment is not an assault on the fundamental rights of the defendant. In the justice system throughout the country, rights for those involved are not "a zero-sum game." Rights of the nature proposed here do not subtract from those rights already established, they merely add to the body of rights that we all enjoy as Americans. Professor Tribe concurs in this analysis when he writes, "no actual constitutional rights of the accused or of...