On April 27, Logan County Victims Services will provide information tables daily from noon to 1 p.m. outside the Logan County Courthouse. The annual Candlelight Observance will be held Friday, May 1 at 7 p.m. at the Courthouse Square. On Saturday, May 2, the annual picnic for crime victims will be held at Chief Logan State Park.
"Some of these are activities we do every year and we want the public to be aware that we do care and we are here for victims of crime and to come out and show their support too," Victims Advocate Jeannie Christian told The Logan Banner. For more information about these activities contact Christian at the Logan County Prosecutor's Office at (304) 792-8670.
The week of April 26 has been set aside nationwide as National Crime Victims Week to focus on the victims of crime and celebrate the progress made over the past few decades in shifting the focus from the rights of criminals to the rights of victims. At one point in the late 1960s and early 1970s the pendulum drifted towards extreme focus on criminal’s rights and many victims of violent crime felt ignored and overlooked, and in effect victimized twice.
In the decades following the 1980s the focus shifted again towards remembering the victims of crime and focusing on their rights, noted Christian. The victim’s rights movement received a tremendous push when President Ronald Reagan formed a Task Force on Victims of Crime and uncovered poor to shoddy treatment of victims and a criminal justice system which was at that time, indifferent to the needs of victims. Many communities across the nation came on board and pushed for efforts to fund victims and witness assistance programs across the nation through grants and even traditional fundraisers like bake sales.
In 1984, the Presidential Task Force reported their findings and the works of early victims advocates to Congress which in turn passed the Victims of Crime Act (Voca). VOCA in turn created the Crime Victim's Compensation Fund which was financed by criminals themselves from fines and legal fees instead of taxpayers. In 25 years since that time, the fund has grown from $68 million to over $2 billion. This fund reimburses victims for many out of pocket expenses like medical care, counseling, funerals or lost wages. Locally several victims in a child sex abuse investigation were signed up for assistance from the Crime Victims Compensation Fund to help their families deal with travel expenses and counseling, earlier this month.
Over 4000 agencies which serve more than 4 million victims are funded or supported by VOCA.
John W. Gillis of the US Department of Justice recently told reporters that every day and in every state VOCA lets victims know they don't have to go it alone in the aftermath of their ordeal and represents a hope that the nation will stand behind the victims of crime with support.
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