Today’s blog post is another in the series recognizing April as National Crime Victim’s Rights Month. In today’s post I will address five things that every victim should know:

• Medical bills can be paid by the crime victim’s fund in most states.

• The prosecutor is not the victim’s lawyer.

• Most cases do not go to trial.

• Restorative Justice may provide you with more options than the conventional judicial system.

• When an offender is incarcerated you should sign up for a notification if he or she is released.

Last week I enjoyed visiting the Appalachian Center at the University of Kentucky where I participated in a discussion about Appalachian cultural values and legal institutions. Typically when I participate in any discussion about legal institutions, issues arise pertaining to an increasing dependence in the United States on legal institutions to resolve broad categories of conflicts. This discussion was no exception. We considered issues related to resolving social problems and addiction through the criminal judicial processes.

Mediation has not historically occurred in criminal cases or quasi-criminal cases in the United States.  However, in the late 20th century, processes similar to mediation became employed in some cases.  These processes resemble mediation because they are usually voluntary, inclusive, informal, and allow for a more expansive list of options to resolve the underlying problems.  While mediation is almost always beneficial in civil cases, criminal cases must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to determine if they are suitable for these processes.

Victims are often overwhelmed following a crime.  Victims may be faced with a lot of questions and not many answers.  How will my bills get paid?  Do I have to attend the court hearing?  Who will represent me?  What if I don't want the case to be prosecuted?  Our office accepts cases in West Virginia, the District of Columbia and Maryland and can help victims find some of these answers.  Brenda has worked as a prosecutor, defense counsel and holds a master's degree with an emphasis in Restorative Justice.  

I am on my way to Morgantown to attend a symposium focusing on Prisons in Appalachia.  I will be joining a fabulous roundtable discussion on Restorative Justice and Alternative Sentencing tomorrow morning featuring Judge Michael Aloi, Jacqueline Roebuck Sacko, Jim Nolan and Valena Beety.  In my portion of the session I’ll be providing a bit of an introduction to restorative justice.