NCVLI Brochure

Our

vision

The rights we fight to enforce nationwide include a crime victim’s right to: • Be treated with dignity, fairness, and respect; • Privacy; • Be protected from the defendant; • Timely and accurate notice of all proceedings; • Confer with the prosecutor; • Be present and heard at critical proceedings; • Speedy disposition of the case against the

How can you help

victims? ­­­

Join the National Alliance of Victims’ Rights Attorneys (NAVRA) and become part of NCVLI’s national membership of attorneys and advocates. If each attorney in the United States will take just one case pro bono each year on behalf of just one victim, the lives of thousands will be changed. Visit www.navra.org.

Protecting, Enforcing, & Advancing Victims’ Rights

Protecting, Enforcing, & Advancing Victims’ Rights

defendant; and

• Restitution.

We are fighting to secure a society in which: • Every crime victim has comprehensive and

meaningful legal rights; • Every crime victim can access a knowledgeable attorney for representation in the criminal justice system; • Every crime victim’s attorney has access to education, training, and technical support from a community of experts; • Everyone in the criminal justice system is knowledgeable about and respects the legal rights of crime victims; and • The rights of every crime victim are routinely enforced to facilitate meaningful participation in the criminal justice system.

Become a better advocate for victims by asking NCVLI for training, case consultation, or amicus support.

NCVLI’s team of legal experts will partner with you every step of the way to advance victims’ rights.

Contribute financially to NCVLI at www.ncvli.org. Your support means that more victims will have access to expert legal advice, more courts will learn about victims’ rights, and more criminal justice practitioners will be trained on rights enforcement.

a nonprofit research, education, and advocacy organization

Protecting, Enforcing, & Advancing Victims’ Rights

310 SW 4th Ave., Ste. 540 • Portland, OR 97204 503-768-6819 • ncvli@lclark.edu • www.ncvli.org

Achieving

justice

Our Mission The National Crime Victim Law Institute actively promotes balance and fairness in the justice system through crime victim-centered legal advocacy, education, and resource-sharing.

About Our Work NCVLI is a nonprofit research, education, and advocacy organization located in Portland, Oregon at Lewis & Clark Law School.

Too often crime victims are re-victimized by the very justice system to which they have turned for help. This re-victimization happens when crime victims are put on the witness list and told to stay out of the courtroom; when they endure unreasonable delays in the process; when they struggle to recover property and financial losses; when their privacy is invaded; when they are silenced at plea and sentencing; and when their safety is not adequately considered by the courts.

In short, revictimization occurs when victims are not treated with dignity and respect.

Through our rights enforcement efforts, we work to stop this re-victimization. We provide victims with access to highly trained pro bono attorneys who help protect their rights in courts, and we file amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) briefs to ensure that those courts are aware of the latest developments in victim law.

Our

tools Legal Advocacy We pair crime victims with free lawyers who will fight to secure their rights. We do this through our national network of legal clinics and our National Alliance of Victims’ Rights Attorneys (NAVRA). We also ensure every attorney and advocate can make the best arguments for the victims they serve by providing them with legal research, writing, and strategic consultation. In addition, we file amicus curiae briefs in victims’ rights cases nationwide.

Training & Education We train nationwide on the meaning, scope, and enforceability of victims’ rights through practical skills courses, online webinars, and teleconferences. We also host the only conference in the country focused on victim law. Our audiences include attorneys, judges, advocates, law enforcement, law students, and victims.

Public Policy We work with partners nationwide to secure the next wave of victims’ rights legislation – legislation that guarantees victims substantive rights and the procedural mechanisms to secure those rights. We provide model legislation, and testify when called upon.

protecting, enforcing, & advancing

victims’ rights

Making victims’ rights

a­­­ reality

What is “Rights Enforcement”?

Rights enforcement is about turning victims’ rights from mere words on the pages of a law book into a meaningful voice in the criminal justice system through legal advocacy. Here are some examples: IN IDAHO, a child-victim of sexual assault was terrified to testify in open court against her perpetrator. Working with NCVLI, the victim’s attorney persuaded the court to allow the victim to have a support person with her during testimony, protecting the child from confronting her offender alone.

IN CALIFORNIA, on the eve of trial, the mother of a homicide victim was told that she might be barred from the courtroom. NCVLI secured a pro bono attorney for the victim, who then worked with NCVLI to fight for the victim’s right to be in the courtroom and hear about her son’s last minutes.

IN OHIO, a victim who was defrauded of tens of thousands of dollars was unable to exercise his rights to confer with the prosecution, to be present at proceedings, or to receive restitution, because the case was under seal (meaning the public, including the victim, was unable to see any of the records).

Working with NCVLI, the victim’s attorney persuaded the court to unseal the case and afford the victim his rights.