Victim Impact Statements

A victim impact statement (VIS) is an oral allocution or written or recorded statement created by an individual who has been impacted by a criminal victimization. The VIS is a conduit through which information, which may not have been introduced or admissible during the trial, is presented to the decision makers. The VIS generally contains information about the physical, financial, psychological, social, spiritual, or emotional harms brought about by the criminal or delinquent behavior of a juvenile or adult. Sometimes the VIS can also include a recommendation for the appropriate sentence that the offender should receive or a reaction to a proposed sentence if the offender is found guilty of committing the crime. In the case of homicides, personal information is given about the deceased. This personal information could, for example, be about the type of parent, spouse, sibling, worker, or community member that the deceased was. Additionally, the surviving family members might present information about the ways in which their lives have changed as a result of the homicide. The VIS can be presented by the victim, the victim's family or loved ones, the victim's colleagues, or other members of the community.

The use of the VIS exemplifies the dramatic changes that have taken place over the past 50 years in regard to the relationship between victims of crimes and the criminal justice system. The victims' rights movement began in earnest in the 1970s, when victims of crime started to voice dissatisfaction with the way in which they were treated by the criminal justice system. Their dissatisfaction stemmed from their belief that they were not respected by the criminal justice system. Also dissatisfied at that time were prosecutors, who were frustrated by the failure of crime victims to participate fully in the criminal process because of their dissatisfaction with the system.

In response to this dissatisfaction, President Ronald Reagan ordered the formation of the President's Task Force on Victims of Crime to investigate the experiences of crime victims and to make recommendations that would improve their interactions with and participation in the criminal justice system. Their report, made public in 1982, outlined 68 recommendations. Among their recommendations was the suggestion that an amendment to the Sixth Amendment should be made that would afford the victim of a crime the right to be present and heard during critical stages of the criminal trial and sentencing processes. The concept embodied in this recommendation was not new; the first victim impact statement had already been created in California in 1976. While the constitutional amendment was never enacted, the spirit of this recommendation became practice in 1982.

Consistent and widespread use of the VIS started in the federal court system following the passage of the Victim and Witness Protection Act of 1982, which required that a VIS be given to federal district court judges to consider prior to sentencing. States began to follow suit, and the use of the VIS began to spread. Today, all states allow its use to determine the appropriate sentence that a defendant will be given in noncapital cases. Noncapital cases are those in which punishment cannot be the death sentence.

...