"VICTIM'S RIGHTS BILL" DOES LITTLE GOOD AND MUCH HARM

Constitutional amendment number four, which Missouri voters will decide Nov. 3, purports to add a section to the state constitution to protect the "rights" of crime victims. Although it is well-intentioned, the proposal would add nothing to those rights that crime victims already have as citizens of this state and nation. In fact, it would threat many of those protections that all of us enjoy today.

Most items in proposed amendment already exist

For example, all members of the public have the right to attend the public sessions of trials. Of necessity, some proceedings are closed to persons not directly involved, such as in juvenile proceedings and conferences on legal issues between the judge and attorneys. But even in these cases a public record is made of all significant decisions and a victim has equal access to those open records.

In addition, restitution for victims and their families is currently provided for, both in civil actions against the defendant (who usually has no money, either) and in claims against the Crime Victims Compensation Fund. At this time, every criminal defendant who is convicted is assessed a sum which is deposited in the state treasury. Unfortunately, the fund is never large enough to provide restitution in full for all victims.

The remaining provisions of the amendment seem to create rights for which there are no remedies. Are judges and prosecutors obligated to inform victims every time a motion is filed or a continuance granted in the case? What does a speedy resolution of the case mean? Is the victim entitled to an appointed attorney to represent his interest, as opposed to the prosecutor who represents the State of Missouri? What does reasonable protection mean? And, if that protection is lacking and the State is insulated from liability, what is the victim's redress?

These questions are not answered in the proposal put to voters and cannot be easily answered by either the courts or the legislature. And as always, there is the question of adequate funding and how to obtain it.

Social costs

At bottom, this proposed amendment creates an intolerable conflict between the rights of crime victims and those of the rest of society. In seeking to eliminate ambiguity and assure that victims are "healed," the door is opened for the incredible power of the state to be wielded against all Missourians.

The specters of preventive detentions and arrests without bail were only recently exorcised from Eastern Europe and other parts of the world. It would be neither reasonable nor prudent to risk their reanimation by seeking to turn our admittedly flawed criminal justice system into an instrument for sociological betterment or the institutionalization of private revenge.

What should our goal be?

Since the time of Hammurabi, Moses and Solon, our civilization has been marked by the development of a social compact. This compact provided that the citizens relinquished their right to avenge personal wrongs in favor of the state. The offender would no longer be responsible to the victim alone for his crime, but to the whole society. Consistency in the administration of justice was gained, and social peace increased by the elimination of vendettas and feuds.

The Founding Fathers realized, however, that such power was subject to great abuse, and placed curbs on that power through the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. We risk reducing those curbs if the vast retributive power of the State is seen to be placed at the service of private vengeance once again, and clemency or severity of punishment dependent upon the relative status of the victim and criminal.

Blame public officials, not the system

Judges and prosecutors presently have great discretion in sentencing, bail and the filing of charges in individual cases. If a deficiency of feeling on the part of those officials is the source of a crime victim's frustration, then the solution is moral education and replacement of those officials. They, and we, are not unduly fettered by the constitutional protections which make our society truly civil.

Vote NO on Nov. 3 against an amendment that does little good, and has much potential to do great harm.