Victims Impact Program Illinois ChildVictims Impact Program Illinois LotteryCrime Victim Compensation. Crime victim compensation is a government program to reimburse victims of violent crimes- such as assault, homicide, rape, and, in some states, burglary - as well as their families for many of their out- of- pocket expenses. Every state has a crime victim compensation program. For information about your state program, visit the National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards. Benefits. Crime victim compensation programs will generally pay for. They also have limits on certain types of expenses, for example, limits on the amounts that can be paid for funeral or burial expenses, for counseling, or for medical expenses. Some states only compensate victims who were physically injured in the course of the crime, while others also compensate victims of violent crime who were traumatized but not physically injured by the crime. Family members: Families of homicide victims can get compensation to pay the medical bills and funeral or burial expenses, and to pay for counseling and loss of support. Some states will compensate family members in certain other types of cases, for example, paying for counseling for family members in cases of sexual assault, child abuse, or domestic violence. The compensation program will then examine police records, receipts, and other information before deciding whether to pay a claim. For information about your state program, visit the National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards. All rights reserved. Copyright 2. 00. 3 by the National Center for Victims of Crime. This document may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or by any other means, without the expressed written permission of the National Center for Victims of Crime. Victims Confront Offenders, Face To Face : NPRLAURA SULLIVAN, host: This is TALK OF THE NATION. I'm Laura Sullivan in Washington. Experiencing a crime, from vandalism in your backyard to a violent assault, can leave you feeling scared and angry. Even when a criminal case ends in a guilty verdict, many victims feel they never get the answers they need to move on. But now some cities and counties across the country are giving crime victims an opportunity to confront their offenders and even reconcile face to face before there's even a trial. They get an apology and a say in the offender's punishment. But some critics say it's turning justice on its head. If you've taken part in this process or decided not to as a victim, an offender, a prosecutor, tell us your story. Our number is 8. 00- 9. Our email address is talk@npr. And you can join the conversation at our website. Go to NPR. org and click on TALK OF THE NATION. Later in the program, we'll hear why Egyptian protestors are flocking back to Cairo's Tahrir Square. But first, restorative justice. With us now is Sujatha Baliga. She's been bringing victims and offenders together for several years now. And she joins me now from the studios of Youth Radio in Oakland, California. And then you bring in the victim of the crime and a prosecutor. And you all sit around a table. You may also send us an e-mail using the form below. Please do not use this form to file a complaint against a business. If you are a victim of consumer or financial fraud, please file a complaint with our Public Inquiry Unit. Department of Housing and Urban Development 451 7th Street S.W., Washington, DC 20410 Telephone: (202) 708-1112 TTY: (202) 708-1455 Find the address of the HUD office near you. Illinois hunters are gearing up to harvest bobcats, for the first time since the '70s. Interest in participating is outpacing the permit supply. Bobcats were once considered a threatened species in Illinois. The following are recepients of the 2016 Governor's Volunteer Service Awards. Southern Illinois Award Recipients Anthnoy Wyatt - Adult - Murphysboro. Anthony Wyatt has been an active volunteer with Jackson County. BALIGA: Actually, you know, there is no table often. Let me tell you about a case that I recently did in a conservative Southern state. United States of America. CAPITAL: Washington, D.C. FLAG: The flag consists of 13 alternate stripes, 7 red and 6 white; these represent the 13 original colonies. Fifty 5-pointed white. Crime Victims Assistance Line: 1-800-228-3368 (Voice) 1-877-398-1130 (TTY). If a person wants to end a marriage, they can file for divorce. In a divorce, the court will end the marriage and all of the legal benefits that are a part of that marriage. It was a tragic homicide in which a 1. And I had up until this point not taken any homicide cases. This is the first one I had done. And up until now I've been doing a full diversion program. So we're not even thinking about trial. Doing cases like burglaries and arsons and teen dating violence, where, you know, we're not anywhere close to a homicide- type case. The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority is requesting applications for federal Victims of Crime Act grants to support transitional housing and services for Illinois victims of domestic violence and human. When a Youth Is Victimized; Civil Justice for Victims of Crime; Victim Impact Statements; Crime Victim Compensation; Restitution; How Crime Victims React to Trauma; Trauma of Victimization; The Criminal Justice System; What is. I wouldn't say, you know, not the kind of stuff that goes to a youth court, for example, in a diversion program, but slightly more serious crimes than that. He's been charged with - at that point I believe it was - yes, charged with a capital crime. And I said there's no chance. You know, this is not a case for restorative justice. The system is not amenable, particularly in your state. And I can't tell too many details, because we're still finishing things up with that case right now. It's not quite a done deal yet. She and her husband were meeting with the girl's parents, and that the girl's parents actually were the one interested in restorative justice. And she said, Can I give them your information? I said I'd be happy to talk to them and tell you the same thing I'm telling you, which is that this is not happening. And just really implored me to consider ways in which restorative justice - they had read about restorative justice. They'd heard about Howard Zehr and his work. He's sort of considered the grandfather of restorative justice and they were quite moved by the idea that their voices could be a part of the decision- making process and what happens to the young man who took their daughter's life. SULLIVAN: I'm assuming you had to probably get him or her onboard - the district attorney - onboard early. And we did quite a bit of prep work in advance with everyone. And particular with the defense attorney as well, you know, because there's some concerns from all sides that this is not a prudent course of action. Watching a victim's parents be able to ask the questions that attorneys don't ask on the stand in trial. You know, you're not going to get the kinds of answers to the types of questions you have about sort of, you know, how did my daughter lose her life, how did we get to this point, you know, what did we miss in your relationship that was - they knew one another. More it was giving them a space - actually, instead of the trial and determining guilt, defining what happened in that situation. Really the first people to hold the floor in these types of conferences are the victims, where they describe who their daughter was and what the loss has been to them. And that frames the dialogue. And then it turns to the young man to explain exactly how we ended up there. Just this open- hearted discussion of what happened that day. And instead of attorneys, again, asking the questions, it's the victims. And also the boy's parents got a chance to speak about sort of how they think this might've arisen. And in crafting what people would like to see as an outcome in this case, including things like batterer's intervention programs - and this young man being released early than maybe he would have had we not had this process, in order to speak in high schools about teen dating violence. Speaking potentially some day with the victims about what has the impact of this crime been. I mean, what kind of good can come out of it. So these victims were particularly remarkable human beings in their desire to engage in this. But then, you know, I also don't want to single them out, and say I meet people like this pretty much every day. SULLIVAN: How do you get both these victims and these offenders in the room? Are they both equally willing to come in? Everyone was equally chomping at the bit to get in the room together and to have a dialogue that they can't have because they're prepping for trial. I mean, there's a way in which the truth has to be masked, because anything can be used against this young man. Whereas we did this in the plea conference, you know, what the - the posture of this was a plea conference. Everything's privileged. And so everything can come out. The truth can come out. And so and everybody wanted that. And I can't say enough in my former life as a criminal defense attorney how often people really do want to just tell the truth about happened. A lot of people confess. And then after the fact I've spent many times trying to get my clients to not want to say everything that happened, you know? It's a natural human instinct. It's a really moral instinct to want to come clean. And so it's - I think it's - and creating spaces in which it's a safe thing to do to come clean. BALIGA: It's really beneficial. If they come through in these conversations and say, yes, I did kill your daughter and this is what happened, doesn't that hurt them in their trial? It's just like settlement negotiations in a civil suit, you know? You're not going to be able to really tell the truth about stuff. The only way that that could be used is if he got on the stand and then said - which I know he would never do in this case - but got on the stand and say, actually, it was somebody else. He could be impeached with what he confessed. Things where somebody is definitely going to have to serve some period of time given the way our current criminal justice system operates. And then when we resolve the case through using restorative processes, then the case does not (clears throat) excuse me the case does not even get charged. SULLIVAN: Let's hear from some of our listeners. Let's begin with Matthew from Concord, California. MATTHEW: I just wanted to comment and say that I think this is really great. My mother was killed by a drunk driver and I wanted to meet with the guy. He was a little bit older than me, about one year. And I wanted to forgive him and I felt sorry for him because his life was ruined on a stupid mistake. And even though he killed my mom, you know, he didn't do it on purpose, and I just think it's great. I wish I could've met with him and I hope this becomes commonplace in the future for other people. SULLIVAN: Thank you, yeah. MATTHEW: And I'm gonna hang up. SULLIVAN: Thank you so much for the call. We're so sorry for your loss. Sujatha, have you found that a lot of victims want to take part in this process? I think a lot of us assume the victims just want to see their perpetrators pay. SUJATHA BALIGA NATIONAL COUNCIL ON CRIME AND DELINQUENCY: I think that that's an unfortunate characterization of most victims. I can't tell you how many people I meet that sound just like Matthew. And again, Matthew, I am terribly sorry for your loss as well. And I - but I do meet a lot of people who say this. You know, a police officer's widow reached out to me earlier this year and she had been vehemently in favor of her husband's killer getting the death sentence. And four or five years later, she's completely changed her mind. She's forgiven the man who took her husband's life and she wants to meet with him. You know, people reach out to me with these kinds of stories all the time. SULLIVAN: Some people might say, you know, some people could argue, well, you know, it's okay if a victim forgives this person, but this person's crime was really against the state. It wasn't against the victim. How do you deal with that? DELINQUENCY: I would say that it's against both. And to the degree to which we can incorporate victim's desires into our processes, the better. And you know, obviously there's statutory maximums, right? But there is a great deal of discretion that the state has, that district attorneys in particular have, to make decisions about charging and about ranges within that, particularly in plea deals, which is how we resolve most of our cases in this country. So to involve victims' desires in that process actually - that seems like a viable option. SULLIVAN: We're talking with Sujatha Baliga. She's a senior program specialist at the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. And we're talking about programs that bring crime victims and offenders together before trial. And in a moment, we'll talk with a career district attorney about why many prosecutors want nothing to do with these programs. This is TALK OF THE NATION from NPR News. Justice in the American court system generally follows the same basic pattern - arrest, trial, sentence or acquittal. That's changing in some places. A number of states, cities and counties are now bringing victims and offenders together before a trial. Victims often get answers and an apology. Offenders get a reduced sentence without ever going to court.
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