Abstract
Victims are very angry at the treatment they receive in our criminal justice system and I have tried to show that they have a right to be angry. Unfortunately, anger is not a good basis on which to make important public policy decisions and it contributes to the increasing harshness we see in our system. Crime is a serious problem in all western countries and politicians have to get elected in these countries as well. But we need to ask ourselves why judges and lawyers in other countries have been more successful in fending off calls for the death penalty, for harsh mandatory minimums, tough habitual offender statutes, and the like. Part of the answer is that the judges in those systems have greater credibility with the public and, in some of the countries at least, the trial system commands greater respect and public confidence. We need the balance that a Victims' Rights Amendment offers to restore some of the public confidence our system has lost. Victims need it, but so do defendants.
Recommended Citation
Pizzi, William T.
(1999)
"Victims' Rights: Rethinking Our "Adversary System","
Utah Law Review: Vol. 1999:
No.
2, Article 4.
Available at:
https://dc.law.utah.edu/ulr/vol1999/iss2/4