FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? OVC
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2002??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? ??????????? 202/307-0703
NEW JUSTICE DEPARTMENT BULLETINS ADDRESS
CRITICAL LEGAL ISSUES FOR CRIME VICTIMS
WASHINGTON, D.C. ? Four new bulletins from
the Justice Department?s Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) provide crime
victims with clear and concise information about key legal issues.? Strengthening Antistalking Statutes, Reporting
School Violence, The Crime Victim?s Right to Be Present and Enforcement
of Protective Orders are the first in an ongoing series of bulletins
designed to educate victims about their rights and roles in the criminal
justice system.?
?The nature and scope of victims rights can
vary from state to state, and it can be difficult for victims to determine what
those rights mean for them,? said OVC Director John W. Gillis.? ?I believe these bulletins will help
victims, victim advocates and victim service providers make sense of the
criminal justice process.?
Strengthening Antistalking Statutes describes the different types of behavior
that can be defined as stalking and some of the challenges to implementing
effective antistalking laws.? The bulletin
also covers some relatively new issues such as cyberstalking.
Reporting School Violence outlines some of the different laws that
govern how schools and law enforcement can collect and share school violence
data.? It also identifies some
recent? improvements in reporting school
violence, such as hotlines that allow students to call in threats
anonymously.?
The Crime Victim?s Right to Be Present describes states? efforts to balance the
crime victims? rights in the courtroom with the rights of the accused.? Defense counsel often tries to prevent
victims and families from appearing in court by listing them as potential
witnesses, but many states have passed laws to stop or limit this practice.? The bulletin also covers related issues such
as the rights of crime victims to have a support person with them at a
trial.?
Enforcement of Protective Orders highlights some of the tools states have
used to ensure that protective orders are not violated, such as stronger
criminal sanctions for offenders.? The
bulletin also discusses full faith and credit provisions and the increased use
of statewide protective order registries.
OVC developed these bulletins through a grant
to the National Center for Victims of Crime, and will periodically produce
additional bulletins in this series.
Copies of Strengthening Antistalking
Statutes, Reporting School Violence, The Crime Victim?s Right to
Be Present and Enforcement of Protective Orders, as well as
information about other OVC publications, programs and conferences, are
available through the OVC Website at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc and from the
OVC Resource Center at 1-800/627-6872.
Information about other Office of Justice
Programs (OJP) bureaus and program offices is available at www.ojp.usdoj.gov.? Media should contact OJP?s Office of
Congressional and Public Affairs at 202/307-0703.? ??????????
????????????? #
# #
OVC 02073??????