PROPOSALS FOR A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO PROVIDE RIGHTS FOR VICTIMS OF CRIME THURSDAY, JULY 11, 1996 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, DC. The committee met, pursuant to notice at 9:40 a.m., in room 2141, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Henry J. Hyde (chairman of the committee) presiding. Present: Representatives Henry J. Hyde, Carlos J. Moorhead, F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr., George W. Gekas, Howard Coble, Charles T. Canady, Bob Goodlatte, Stephen E. Buyer, Sonny Bono, Fred Heineman, Ed Bryant of Tennessee, Michael Patrick Flanagan, John Conyers, Jr., Charles E. Schumer, Howard L. Berman, Jack Reed, Robert C. Scott, Melvin L. Watt, Xavier Becerra, Zoe Lofgren, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Maxine Waters. Also present: Joseph Gibson, counsel; Kenny Prater, clerk; Perry Apelbaum, minority chief counsel; and Stephanie Peters, minority counsel. OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN HYDE Mr. HYDE. Ladies and gentlemen, the committee will come to order. This morning the committee considers proposals for a constitutional amendment to provide rights for victims of crimes. As everyone who reads a newspaper knows, violent criminals damage and destroy the lives of innocent victims every day. When law enforcement officials arrest and prosecute people accused of committing violent crimes, those individuals have a wide array of legal rights, many of which are constitutionally guaranteed. Those rights protect accused persons against unjust convictions and allow them to present their side of the story. That is as it should be, and we are certainly not here to change that. All too often, however, the criminal justice system overlooks the legitimate concerns of crime victims. Victims often sit through criminal trials where the defendant has the protections of the 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, and 14th amendments, and the courts rightfully protect these constitutional rights. On the other hand, the victim who has suffered grievously has no Federal constitutional rights at all. Crime victims deserve constitutional protections just as accused persons have constitutional protections. For that reason, I believe the time has come to provide specific defined rights under the Constitution to crime victims. (1) Although some victims in high profile cases are treated with the dignity they deserve, I think the rights provided in this proposed amendment may be even more important in the hundreds of criminal cases we never hear about. This amendment applies to many kinds of crimes and the victims of all of those crimes deserve protection. Today I want to focus on one group of victims that I am especially interested in, the thousands of women and children who are victims of domestic violence every day. For far too long, we as a society have stood silently by while domestic abusers have beaten, tortured, maimed and murdered innocent women and children. The violent actions of these predators are morally repugnant. Silence has protected them, but this amendment will empower their victims. Specially, this amendment will empower these victims by giving them knowledge of when they may confront their attackers in court, by giving them the opportunity to speak in court about the resolution of the case, by giving them Government protection from physical harm and intimidation, and by giving them restitution from their attackers. At last, this amendment will give the victims of domestic abuse the power they need to call their abusers to account publicly for their crimes. We have worked very hard in this Congress to uphold family values in many areas, and I believe this is another area in which we can continue to work together to further those values. Senator Dole endorsed this proposal in a speech in Colorado on May 28, and he became a cosponsor of S.J. Res. 52 on June 5. Later, President Clinton added his bipartisan support. I also want to thank Senator Kyl and Senator Feinstein, the cosponsors of this amendment in the Senate, as well as Congressman Royce, a long-time champion of victims' rights for their bipartisan support. I look forward to working with all of the interested parties to advance this amendment further. [The bills, H.J. Res. 173 and H.J. Res. 174, follow:] LA 104TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. J. RES. 173 Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to protect the rights of victims of crime. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 22, 1996 Mr. HYDE introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary JOINT RESOLUTION Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to protect the rights of victims of crime. 1 Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives 2 of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two3 thirds of each House concurring therein), That the follow4 ing article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitu5 tion of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents 6 and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by 7 the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States with8 in seven years after the date of its submission for ratifica9 tion: 2 1 2 "SECTION 1. To insure that victims of crime are 3 treated with fairness, dignity, and respect, in each pros4 ecution by the United States or a State, for a crime either 5 involving violence or for which the defendant can be im6 prisoned for a period longer than one year, any victim of 7 the crime shall have the right to receive notice of, and 8 to be present at, every stage of the public proceedings, 9 unless the court determines there is good cause for the 10 victim not to be present; to comment at any such proceed11 ing involving the possible release of the defendant from 12 custody, the acceptance of any plea agreement with the 13 defendant, or the sentencing of the defendant; to be in14 formed of any release or escape of the defendant; to re15 ceive reasonable protection from physical harm or intimi16 dation relating to the proceedings; to have the proceedings 17 resolved in a prompt and timely manner; and to have the 18 court order restitution from the defendant upon convic19 tion. 20 "SECTION 2. The rights established in section 1 shall 21 be made available to victims upon request to the prosecut22 ing authority and in the manner provided by law under 23 section 3. 24 "SECTION 3. The legislatures of the States, with re 25 spect to a proceeding in a State forum, and the Congress HJ 173 IH |