Victimology: the American experience

1. State compensation programmes in the United States

California established the first American crime victim compensation programme in 1965, a year after Britain. Other States followed, and today every State has one. The common features are:

• compensation for victims of violent crime and for dependants of those killed;
• payment for out-of-pocket losses: medical and counselling expenses, lost wages, funeral costs, loss of support; most programmes do not pay for pain and suffering or property loss;
• the victim is the payer of last resort: insurance and other sources must be used first;
• conditions: prompt reporting to the police, cooperation with the prosecution, a filing deadline, and reduction or denial for the victim's own contributory misconduct;
• an award does not depend on the offender being caught or convicted.

2. The federal framework

• Victim and Witness Protection Act, 1982: required federal courts to consider restitution by the offender, allowed victim impact statements in pre-sentence reports, and made intimidation of victims and witnesses a federal offence.
• President's Task Force on Victims of Crime, 1982: its final report found that victims were neglected and often mistreated by the system, and made sixty-eight recommendations, including a proposed constitutional amendment giving victims the right to be present and heard at all critical stages.
• Victims of Crime Act, 1984 (VOCA): created the Crime Victims Fund, financed mainly by fines, penalty assessments and forfeited bail paid by federal offenders, not by taxpayers. The Fund gives grants to State compensation programmes and to victim assistance services such as shelters, rape crisis centres and court advocates. It is administered by the Office for Victims of Crime in the Department of Justice.
• Mandatory Victims Restitution Act, 1996: made restitution mandatory for many federal offences.
• Violence Against Women Act, 1994: funding for services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking.
• Crime Victims' Rights Act, 2004 (18 U.S.C. § 3771): gives victims in federal cases enforceable rights, including the right to be reasonably protected from the accused, to notice of proceedings, not to be excluded from public proceedings, to be reasonably heard at release, plea and sentencing, to confer with the prosecutor, to full and timely restitution, to proceedings free from unreasonable delay, and to be treated with fairness and respect for dignity and privacy. A victim whose rights are denied can seek a writ of mandamus from the court of appeals.

3. State constitutional amendments

Most States have added victims' rights to their constitutions. California's Proposition 8 (1982) included a “Victims' Bill of Rights” with a right to restitution, and its Proposition 9 (2008), known as Marsy's Law, expanded those rights and has been copied in several other States. A federal constitutional amendment has been proposed many times but not adopted.

4. Victim impact statements

A victim impact statement tells the sentencing court how the crime affected the victim or the family. In Booth v. Maryland (US Supreme Court, 1987) the Court held that such evidence in a capital sentencing hearing violated the Eighth Amendment because it could lead to arbitrary decisions based on the victim's character. In Payne v. Tennessee (US Supreme Court, 1991) the Court overruled Booth and held that the Eighth Amendment does not bar evidence about the victim and the impact of the murder on the family; the State may legitimately conclude that such evidence is relevant to the harm caused. Victim impact statements are now used at sentencing throughout the United States.

5. Victim assistance programmes

Alongside compensation, American prosecutors' offices run victim-witness assistance programmes: notification of case events, explanation of the process, accompaniment to court, help with compensation claims, referral to counselling, and protection from intimidation. These are discussed in the next note, with their Indian counterparts.

6. Canada

• Provincial criminal injuries compensation schemes began in the late 1960s, starting with Saskatchewan, and most provinces now have one, though some have replaced lump-sum compensation with financial benefits programmes.
• The Canadian Statement of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime (1988, revised 2003), adopted by the federal and provincial governments after the UN Declaration.
• The Criminal Code provides for restitution orders, victim impact statements, and a victim fine surcharge whose proceeds fund victim services.
• The Canadian Victims Bill of Rights (2015): statutory rights to information, protection, participation (including a victim impact statement) and restitution, with a complaints mechanism; and a Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime.

How this is examined

“Explain the criminal injuries compensation scheme in North America” (August 2024, 10 marks) and “Explain the remedies available to victims in North America” (February 2025, 10 marks). For the compensation question, use sections 1 and 2 (VOCA and the Fund) and the Canadian schemes in section 6. For the remedies question, cover all four remedies: state compensation, restitution from the offender, participation rights (CVRA, impact statements, Payne) and assistance programmes.