September 20, 2023Toward a More Meaningful Vision of Victim PrivacyBy Elizabeth Well of Ohio Crime Victim Justice CenterThe National Crime Victim Law Conference is always inspiring and invigorating. No man is an island, but attorneys and advocates doing victim’s...

August 29, 2023Victims’ Right to Participate Post-ConvictionMeg Garvin,  MA, JD, MstIn August, nearly 40 years after their murders, the family of Bradley and Ferne Hart filed a brief in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to be treated fairly and with...

I’m looking forward to the annual NCVLI Crime Victim Law Conference where I will be presenting with several family members who lost loved ones in the Boeing 737 MAX crashes: Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Air Flight 302.

In the last several decades, as crime victims’ rights protections have proliferated, it has become necessary to define “victim” with precision.

Let’s get funding for victim lawyers – including passing the Courtney Wild Crime Victims’ Rights Reform Act!

April 24, 2023SCOTUS: “True Threat” Decision Must Protect Victims of StalkingMeg Garvin, MA, JD, Mst Executive DirectorLast week, SCOTUS heard oral arguments in Counterman v. Colorado, in which Colorado musician, Coles Whalen, was threatened by Billy Counterman for...

ANY unconsented to review of a victim’s records results in a permanent erosion of the victim’s privacy.

While privacy law was dealt a blow in 2022, there is much hope that victims’ privacy rights can still be protected.

Recently the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled that crime victims have no remedy for violations of their rights under the federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act (CVRA), 18 U.S.C § 3771. A decision which is being challenged.

So how do victims or their lawful representatives (including their legal counsel) assert rights in the district court?