Discussion

Assume that upon your graduation, you accepted a position with the State’s Attorney’s office as a victim service coordinator. It is your job to assist victims of crime in completing their victim impact statements. In your new role, you have been asked to research the following questions to improve the process for all the parties who are involved in the process.

The victim of a crime has the right to address the court prior to the imposition of a sentence. This is known as a victim impact statement and occurs after a finding or plea of guilty and prior to sentencing.

Answer the following:

• Do you think that victim impact statements influence a judge in the sentence that they will impose? Why or why not?
• If you were the victim of a crime, what would be the top 3 things that you would want the judge to know about how the victimization impacted you?
• Conduct research and locate either a case or an article that discusses victim impact statements. Discuss the case or article, and express your opinion as to whether you agree or not.