Oklahoma Victims Bill of Rights
Oklahoma Victim Assistance Academy
Victim Services Coordinator Oklahoma Department of Corrections Ilinda Jackson
began her career with the Oklahoma Department of Corrections in May 2003
as Chaplain II at Mabel Bassett Correctional Center and promoted to the Faith
and Character Community Coordinator in 2007. In November 2009 Ms. Jackson
promoted to Coordinator of the Victim Services Unit.
Ms. Jackson graduated from Oklahoma City University with a Masters in Applied
Behavior Studies, and has applied to test for Licensed Professional Counselor.
Oklahoma Victims Bill of Rights
As a victim of crime, you have the following rights:
1. To be notified that a court proceeding to which a victim or witness has
been subpoenaed will or will not go on as scheduled, in order to save the
person an unnecessary trip to court;
2. To receive protection from harm and threats of harm arising out of the
cooperation of the person with law enforcement and prosecution efforts, and
to be provided with information as to the level of protection available and
how to access protection;
3. To be informed of financial assistance and other social services available
as a result of being a witness or a victim, including information on how
to apply for the assistance and services;
4. To be informed of the procedure to be followed in order to apply for and
receive any witness fee to which the victim or witness is entitled;
5. To be informed of the procedure to be followed in order to apply for and
receive any restitution to which the victim is entitled;
6. To be provided, whenever possible, a secure waiting area during court
proceedings that does not require close proximity to defendants and families
and friends of defendants;
7. To have any stolen or other personal property expeditiously returned by
law enforcement agencies when no longer needed as evidence. If feasible,
all such property, except weapons, currency, contraband, property subject
to evidentiary analysis and property the ownership of which is disputed,
shall be returned to the person;
8. To be provided with appropriate employer intercession services to ensure
that employers of victims and witnesses will cooperate with the criminal
justice process in order to minimize the loss of pay and other benefits of
the employee resulting from court appearances;
9. To have the family members of all homicide victims afforded all of the
services under this section, whether or not the person is to be a witness
in any criminal proceedings;
10. To be informed of any plea bargain negotiations;
11. To have victim impact statements filed with the judgment and sentence;
12. To be informed if a sentence is overturned, remanded for a new trial
or otherwise modified by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals;
13. To be informed in writing of all statutory rights;
14. To be informed that when any family member is required to be a witness
by a subpoena from the defense, there must be a showing that the witness
can provide relevant testimony as to the guilt or innocence of the defendant
before the witness may be excluded from the proceeding by invoking the rule
to remove potential witnesses;
15. To be informed that the Oklahoma Constitution allows upon the recommendation
of the Pardon and Parole Board and the approval of the Governor the commutation
of any sentence, including a sentence of life without parole;
16. To receive written notification of how to access victim rights information
from the interviewing officer or investigating detective; and
17. To a speedy disposition of the charges free from unwarranted delay caused
by or at the behest of the defendant or minor. In determining a date for
any criminal trial or other important criminal or juvenile justice hearing,
the court shall consider the interests of the victim of a crime to a speedy
resolution of the charges under the same standards that govern the right
to a speedy trial for a defendant or a minor. In ruling on any motion presented
on behalf of a defendant or minor to continue a previously established trial
or other important criminal or juvenile justice hearing, the court shall
inquire into the circumstances requiring the delay and consider the interests
of the victim of a crime to a speedy resolution of the case. If a continuance
is granted, the court shall enter into the record the specific reason for
the continuance and the procedures that have been taken to avoid further
delays.
Oklahoma Victim Assistance Academy
The first Oklahoma Victim Assistance Academy (OVAA), designed to improve
the quality and consistency of victim services in Oklahoma, will be held
June 6-11 at East Central University (ECU) in Ada.
The OVAA is an intensive week-long course of study for victim advocates,
service providers, law enforcement professionals and social service providers
who work with crime victims. Applications and all required documents must
be received by April 16.
The academy increases providers capacity to serve those victimized by crime,
encourages cutting-edge thinking about ways to help victims regain control
of their lives, and enhances the multidisciplinary training currently provided.
The OVAA is modeled after the National Victim Assistance Academy offered
through the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC). The comprehensive curriculum
is based on a recent needs assessment that was conducted after the Oklahoma
Office of the Attorney General was awarded a federal grant from OVC to develop
Oklahoma’s academy.
Faculty with a variety of perspectives was solicited to apply to teach and
will include university and practitioner instructors, criminal justice officials,
victim advocates and crime victims, as well as representatives from different
geographic regions in Oklahoma and different service agencies/organizations.
Selected faculty will be also be attending a train-the-trainer course April
22 at ECU.
Steering Committee members for the academy will select up to 50 candidates
to attend the academy. All students who are accepted and successfully complete
the 40-hour training will receive a certificate of completion. Continuing
education units (CEU’s) have been applied for and academic credit will
be available for an additional fee.
The OVAA is looking for advocates, providers and professionals who work in
any capacity in a paid or volunteer position having direct contact with Oklahoma
crime victims. Candidates should have less than five years of experience
working with victims. Applicants with more than five years’ experience
are required to submit written justification why they should be considered
for the academy. Participants also must be in-residence at the campus residence
halls for the entire 40-hour training.
The comprehensive, academic and specialized training will include 40 hours
of in-class study and 20 to 40 hours of pre-academy online course work.
Information about the academy and an application can be found online at www.assistvictims.com.
Information also is available from Jannason Long at ECU at 580-559-5859 or
jlong@ecok.edu, or from Allyson Carson at the Oklahoma Attorney General’s
Office at 405-522-4397 or Allyson.Carson@oag.ok.gov.
Written correspondence detailing attendance status will be mailed to all
applicants.
The Office for Victims of Crime is part of the Office of Justice Programs
in the U.S. Department of Justice.
Leo Brown, Agency Chaplain and Volunteer Coordinator, Oklahoma Department
of Corrections.
Lisa Burlingame, Project Coordinator, Correctional Offender Management Info
Tracking (COMIT), Oklahoma Department of Corrections.
Allyson Carson, Vicim Services Coordinator, Oklahoma Office of Attorney General.
Karen Cunningham, District #6 Victim Witness Coordinator.
Kenny Holloway, Deputy Director, Treatment and Rehabilitative Services, Oklahoma
Department of Corrections.
Ilinda Jackson, Victim Services Coordinator, Treatment and Rehabilitative
Services, Oklahoma Department of Corrections.
N. Ann Lowrance, M.S. Department Head, Social Services, Oklahoma State University
- OKC.
Jennifer McLaughlin, MSW, CDSVRP, Oklahoma Coalition Against Domestic Violence & Sexual
Assault.
Patty Palmer, Concerned Citizen.
Tonya Pogue, District #3 Victim Witness Coordinator.
Wade Scott, Chaplain II, Oklahoma State Penitentiary Oklahoma Departmet of
Corrections.
Sue Tate, ADR System Director, Administrative Office of the Courts - Oklahoma
City, OK.
Jennifer Taylor, VINE & Protective Order Program Coordinator, Oklahoma
Office of Attorney General.
Karen White, District Supervisor, Central District, Oklahoma Department of
Corrections.
Debra Wyatt, Victim Survivor Support Staff, District 26.
1. Information
• What are your rights as a victim?
• What is happening with your case as it progresses through the justice
system?
• What services are available in the community to help you?
2. Protection
• From intimidation and harm from the perpetrator.
• From publicity around the case/of your rights to privacy.
3. Participation
• To be heard and present at all court proceedings as deemed appropriate.
• To be heard and present at parole hearings.
• To speak with the prosecutor about case decisions before charges are
made.
• The more victims are informed and involved, the more likely they will
be satisfied with services and outcomes, will cooperate throughout the justice
process, and will feel comfortable reporting future crimes.
• Enhanced through effective public education and community problem-solving.
4. Reparations
• Financial assistance in the form of victim compensation for out-of-pocket
expenses such as counseling or medical expenses, funeral costs, or lost wages.
• Restitution for crime-related financial losses and to the community
through services or money.
5. Be treated with respect, dignity, and compassion
• Victims of crime have just been through a tramatic ordeal; they need
people to listen and respond with care.
• Improved training and education for criminal justice professionals,
VSPS, and the public on the impact of victimization.
• Prevention of future violence.
6. Preservation of property and employment
• Preserving rights of vicitms to stay in their homes and communities.
• Education and employment services for victims who, because of the
crime, cannot continue in their past careers.
• Prompt property return or replacement.
7. Due Process
• Right to due process in criminal court proceedings.
In 1994, the landmark Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was passed. This
has been the most significant legislation in the victims rights field, other
than VOCA? This act doubled the maximum federal sentences for sex offenses
and domestic violence and required that temporary restraining orders (TROs)
be honored by all other jurisdictions. Domestic violence perpetrators with
TROs were prohibited from possessing firearms. For the first time, information
shared by domestic violence and rape victims with an advocate was considered
to be privileged communication. This act also established the Office of Violence
Against Women and doubled the available funding for domestic violence and
rape counseling programs.
In 1996, the Congress passed “Megan’s Law,” the Community
Notification Act, as an amendment to the national Child Sexual Abuse Registry
legislation. This law provided that local communities be notified of the
residential addresses of convicted sex offenders.
In 1996, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act included the Mandatory
Victims Restitution Act, under which limited kinds of restitution were made
mandatory in all federal misdemeanor and felony cases. Compensation and victim
assistance services for victims of terrorism both at home and abroad, including
victims in the military, were expanded.
The Interstate Anti-Stalking Punishment and Prevention Act of 1996 was enacted
by Congress. This legislation created a uniform federal law to protect stalking
victims when they travel across a state line or on federal property, including
military bases and Indian reservations. This law made it a felony to cross
a state line to stalk someone or to violate a restraining order in another
state.
The Identity Theft and Deterrence Act of 1998. This landmark federal legislation
outlawed identity theft and directed the U.S. Sentencing Commission to consider
various factors in determining penalties, including the number of victims
and the value of the loss to any individual victim. This act further authorized
the Federal Trade Commission to log and acknowledge reports of identity theft,
profile information to victims, and refer complaints to appropriate consumer
reporting and law enforcement agencies.
The Blood Alcohol Concentration Bill of 2000 required states to adopt a 0.08
blood alcohol content (BAC) as the legal limit for drunk driving by 2004;
failure to do this would lead to an annual reduction in federal highway appropriations.
The Trafficking Victims Protection Act was passed in 2000 to combat the trafficking
of persons, especially into the sex trade, slavery, and slavery-like conditions,
through prevention, prosecution, and enforcement against traffickers and
by increasing the protections, assistance, and mandatory restitution for
victims. This act established programs by the U.S. State Department in foreign
countries to assist in the safe reintegration or resettlement of trafficking
victims.
The VAWA of 2000 provided for direct compensation from the federal government
to victims of international terrorism. This act improved and expanded the
legal tools and programs addressing domestic violence, sexual assault, and
stalking. It authorized new grant programs expanding both programs and research
for sexual assault and domestic violence. It defined dating violence and
placed it under the VAWA programs. It widened the definition of under served
populations and established four new purposes for VAWA funds: coordinated
community response, forensic medical examiners training, training to recognize
disabled and older victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, and assistance
with immigration matters.
The USA Patriot Act of 2001 addressed the needs and concerns of victims of
terrorists acts. The act allowed the OVC director to respond to acts of terrorism
both inside and outside the United States. It established an antiterrorism
emergency reserve in the Crime Victims Fund and increased federal grants
for state crime victim compensation benefits.
In 2001, the VAWA of 1994 was reauthorized with a $3 billion budget through
2005. Congress reauthorized the original programs and expanded them, including
grants for legal services, funding for transitional housing, computerized
tracking of protection orders, grants for safe visitation, and grants for
programs that address dating violence.
In 2004, Congress passed legislation defining aggravated identity theft and
establishing penalty enhancements for two additional years. Title I of the
Justice for All Act (JFA), called the “Scott Campbell, Stephanie Roper,
Wendy Preston, Louarna Gillis, and Nila Lynn Crime Victims’ Rights
Act” (CVRA), enhanced substantive rights for crime victims in the federal
criminal justice system, including the right to be protected from the accused,
heard at all proceedings, and treated with fairness and respect and to receive
timely notice of public proceedings, confer with the government attorney,
and receive full and timely restitution. The CVRA’s enforcement provisions
are more rigorous than other federal victims rights laws and include the
appointment of a victims rights ombudsman in the U.S. Department of Justice.
The act also authorized additional, non-VOCA funding for federal victim/witness
coordinators, state and federal automated victim notification systems, and
victim assistance legal clinics. Other provisions in the JFA seek to eliminate
the substantial backlog of collection of DNA samples in cases of sexual assault
and from crime scenes, criminals, and convicted offenders.
VAWA is reauthorized by Congress and signed into law. The reauthorization
increased funding to support rape crisis centers and combat violent crimes
on campuses and provided funding to place victim assistants in local law
enforcement agencies and to create a national educational curriculum to ensure
that all courts have access to relevant laws and best practices.
Federal Crime Victims Fund
In 1995, deposits in the federal Crime Victims Fund reached a then-high of
more than $583 million, available for state crime victim compensation, local
victim assistance programs, national training and technical assistance, and
federal victim assistance. As a result of this increase in fund collections,
state assistance grants received more than three times as much in federal
funds in 1997 as they had the previous year.
In 1999, the fund deposits reached an all-time high of $985 million. As a
result of significant fluctuations in annual fund deposits, Congress began
capping the amount that could be obligated each year with annual revenues
above the cap stored in the fund balance, from which the program could draw
as a rainy day fund when revenues did not meet the cap. Congress also began
using the fund to support federal victim services, including victim/witness
coordinators in U.S. Attorneys Offices, victim specialists in FBI field offices,
and a federal Victim Notification System.
1962: Battered child syndrome (Kempe).
1965: First crime victims compensation program in California.
1972: First three victims programs.
1972: National Crime (Victimization) Survey.
1974: First battered women’s shelter in Denver, Colorado.
1974: LEAA Victim Assistance Conference.
1974: LEAA pilot victim/witness programs.
1974: Rape trauma syndrome (Burgess).
1975: The Victims (Carrington).
1976: Victim Impact Statement (Rowland/Fresno).
1975: Founding of National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA).
1976: First NOVA Conference in Fresno, California.
1977: National Association of Crime Victim compensation boards.
1977: Mandated arrest for domestic violence in Oregon.
1978: National Coalition Against Sexual Assault (NCASA).
1978: National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV).
1978: Parents of Murdered Children (POMC).
1978: Victim Offender Reconciliation Program (VORP).
1979: The Crime Victim’s Book (Bard and Sangrey).
1980: Wisconsin Bill of Rights for Victims and Witnesses of Crime.
1980: Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).
1981: National Victims Rights Week (President Reagan).
1982: President’s Task Force on Victims of Crime (68 recommendations).
1982: Federal Victim and Witness Protection Act.
1983: Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) (Herrington).
1984: Victims of Crime Act (VOCA).
1984: Missing Children’s Assistance Act.
1984: Family Violence Prevention and Services Act.
1984: Victim Services certificate at CSU, Fresno.
1985: National Victim Center (National Center for Victims of Crime).
1985: NIMH and NOVA “The Aftermath of Crime: A Mental Health Crisis,” a
national colloquium.
1986: NOVA Constitutional Amendment Meeting.
1986: First Crisis Response Team deployment.
1987: Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
1988: VOCA reauthorized.
1989: Victim Services Summer Institute at CSU, Fresno.
1991: Victimology major at CSU, Fresno.
1994: Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).
1995: National Victim Assistance Academy (NVAA).
1996: Megan’s Law.
1996: Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act.
1996: Interstate Anti-Stalking Punishment and Prevention Act.
1996: Support of U.N. Declaration on Victims Rights by OVC.
1997: Victims Rights Clarification Act.
1997: Legislative Source book (National Center for Victims of Crime).
1998: Grants to combat violent crimes against women on campus.
1998: Child Protection and Sexual Predator Punishment Act.
1998: Crime Victims with Disabilities Act.
1998: New Directions from the Field.
1999: State victim assistance academy grants.
2000: Child Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Act/Jennifer’s Law.
2001: USA Patriot Act.
2001: VAWA reauthorized.
2003: PROTECT Act/Amber Alert.
2004: Justice for All Act (JFA).
2006: VAWA reauthorized.
