Task Force Urges 13 New Laws to Recompense Crime Victims

Crime victims are still being ignored by the criminal justice system six years after passage of the “victims’ bill of rights,” said a state panel that recommended 13 new laws Wednesday to ensure that victims get their say in court and receive restitution.

The California Council on Criminal Justice task force said “great strides have been made” in protecting victims’ rights since California voters passed Proposition 8 in 1982.

But the blue-ribbon panel said the intent of the initiative is being thwarted by long court delays that prolong victims’ suffering, ignorance of victims’ rights and spotty collection of fines that denies many victims compensation.

“We have found in the course of our study that it is true that crime victims are no longer forgotten,” Robert H. Philibosian, task force chairman, said in a Capitol news conference. “However, still too often victims are ignored.

“The criminal justice system does not always do a good job of providing reimbursement through restitution for crime victims,” Philibosian said. “The criminal justice system does not always do a good job in according victims the right to speak at sentencing hearings and at parole hearings.

“We have come a long way in the state of California, but we have not come far enough.”

After a year of public hearings and study, the task force issued a 70-page report that recommended a package of bills intended to make the court system more sensitive to the needs of victims. The bills would, among other things:

- Require authorities to notify victims of their right to testify at sentencing and parole hearings and allow victims who are unable to attend to give a statement on video or audiotape.

- Allocate a portion of assets seized from drug dealers to the state victims’ restitution fund. Philibosian said the proposal would divert money from the state Department of Mental Health but would leave law enforcement’s share untouched.

- Authorize parole boards to order restitution as a condition of parole and allow correctional authorities to garnishee the wages of prisoners and parolees.

Philibosian said more than $1.1 billion could be collected yearly from working prisoners.

The report also urged judges, prosecutors, police, probation officers and correctional officials to be more sensitive to victims’ needs.