FEDERAL VICTIMS RIGHTS & FUNDING
Federal legislation update
Federal Legislation Update (June 28, 2002)
By David Voth, 419-222-8666; Web site: www.CrimeVictimServices.org
Federal / National Issues (legislation web site is: http://thomas.loc.gov/)
1) The Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) fund increase in payments to local victim assistance programs, passed in the October 26th, 2001 Terrorism Bill (USA Patriot Act of 2001, HR 3162), and then eliminated again three weeks later in the FY 2002 Commerce, Justice, & State Appropriations (HR 2500), is still not resolved. The consensus of Victim Advocates is to urge Congress to increase VOCA payments by $125 million for FY 2002, and ask that no new ear marking of funds for special projects be done out of the VOCA fund.
2) The recent FBI emphasis on terrorism, rather than white collar crimes, may affect the future of the criminal penalties which make up the VOCA Fund . In the weeks after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, the FBI brought 76% fewer cases for prosecution (down from 1,427 to only 263), and a similar drop in Awhite collar@ crime referrals from 649 down to 138. This is an issue to watch.
3) Violence Against Women Act funding from the U.S. Congress is not being appropriated at the amounts allowed in the re-authorization in 1998 (HR 3514 and S 2110). VAWA funds come in two streams to Ohio. One funding stream is the VAWA grant from the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services, and other is the VAWA grant through the Ohio Dept. of Health Rape Prevention Section coming from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta. Nationally, VAWA funds were reduced by Congress in the 2001 and 2002 grants to local service programs. Congress needs to be urged to fund VAWA at authorized levels.
4) The proposed Victim Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the 28th Amendment, (Senate - S.J.R. 35; House - H.J.R. 91). The language is shortened from the version passed by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, and debated on the Senate Floor for three days in January of 2000. The National Victims Constitutional Amendment Network (www.nvcap.org) has approved the language. The amendment guarantees victims of violent crime the right to: timely notification of any release, escape and public proceeding; inclusion in proceedings; be heard at release, plea, sentencing, and pardon proceedings; protection from undue delays; and, the right to have the victims safety considered and restitution ordered. Congress needs to be urged to support and vote on the Victims Rights Amendment.
5) The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the federal gun ban for anyone subject to a protection order. The case in question involved a domestic violence batterer. (June, 2002)
6) The Debbie Smith Act (HR 2874 and S 2055), if passed by Congress, would provide funding to reduce the backlog of rape kits and DNA evidence awaiting analysis and entering into the national DNA database. It would also make grants to train Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE) and other first responders, and establish minimum standards for DNA evidence kits for all states.
7) FBI Uniformed Crime Report definition of rape needs to be updated. Not included in the definition are rape of any males, oral and anal intercourse, penetration with an object or digit, rape of females by females, incest, statutory rape, and non-forcible rape. In addition, if rape occurs during a robbery or murder, the rape will not be counted statistically. To support this change contact the Women=s Law Project at ctracy@womenslawproject.org.
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Federal Legislation Update (January, 2002)
by David Voth, Crime Victim Services (419-222-8666)
1) The Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) fund was enhanced in the Terrorism Bill (USA Patriot Act of 2001, HR 3162), passed by Congress and signed by President Bush on October 26th, 2001. VOCA money is all from federal criminal fines and costs and none of it is tax dollars. One good change was removing the arbitrary "cap" on victim assistance money allocated. The new formula, called the "managed cap," allows for a 10% increase for victim assistance programs grants when the VOCA fund has the money, and a 20% increase if the fund balance (now at over 1.3 billion) is more than double the prior year payout (last year was 576 million). Moving from an arbitrary cap to a managed cap (percentage formula) was a compromise between a few Congressional people who wanted the dollar cap vs. most Victim Advocates who wanted all VOCA funds allocated each year because "extra money" in the VOCA fund could disappear if not used for victims.
Then a stunning event took place several weeks later. A VOCA cap of $550 million was reimposed in legislation passed as part of the FY 2002 Commerce, Justice, & State Appropriations conference report (HR 2500) and signed by President Bush. Neither Senate nor House passed this VOCA change, it was created by the conference committee working on the federal budget. Due to other changes in VOCA distribution formulas for terrorism, new federal Victim Advocates, federal victim notification system, special children and Indian Country grants, etc., this 550 million cap could mean a reduction in VOCA funds to victim assistance programs across the nation.
The VOCA "managed cap" passed in the Terrorism Bill needs reinstated, and contacts to Congressional Representatives and Senators in Washington, D.C. are critical.
1a) Because the VOCA funds are criminal fines and not tax dollars, the recent drop in new federal criminal cases may also have a long term affect on future VOCA dollars. In the two weeks after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, the FBI brought 76% fewer cases for prosecution (down form 1,427 to only 263), and a similar drop in "white collar" crime referrals from 649 down to 138. Even if this is temporary, and local prosecutors handle cases like bank robbery, the federal fines collected will still be lost to VOCA. Two questions which need asked over time are whether the "white collar" crime cases that fund most of VOCA will be neglected due to the new emphasis on terrorism, and whether there is also a "business orientation" of the Bush administration which is "chilling" the white collar investigations - and thus the VOCA fund.
2) Violence Against Women Act funding from the U.S. Congress is not being appropriated at the amounts allowed in the re-authorization in 1998 (HR 3514 and S 2110). VAWA funds come in two streams to Ohio. One funding stream is the VAWA grant from the Office of Criminal Justice Services, and one is the VAWA grant through the Dept. of Health Rape Prevention Section coming from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta. Both have had reductions in the 2001 and 2002 grants to local service programs, even though the original VAWA legislation did not have reductions. Congressional Representatives and Senators in Washington, D.C., need to be asked for the authorized VAWA funding levels.
3) The proposed Victim Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the 28th Amendment, is in the final stages of being revised for re-introduction in the U.S. Senate by sponsors Sen. Jon Kyl (R - Arizona) and Diane Feinstein (D - California). The new draft is a shortened version of the one which passed the Senate Judiciary Committee and sub-committee on Constitutional Law, and was debated on the Senate Floor for three days in January of 2000. The National Victims Constitutional Amendment Network (www.nvcap.org) has approved the draft language. The amendment would guarantee victims of violent crime such rights as: timely notification of any release, escape and public proceeding; inclusion in proceedings; the right to be heard at release, plea, sentencing, and pardon proceedings; and protection from undue delays; and, the right to have the victims safety considered and restitution ordered. The Ohio Victim Witness Association helps financially sponsor David Voth to be on the NVCAN National Board.
By David Voth, 419-222-8666; Web site: www.CrimeVictimServices.org
Federal / National Issues (legislation web site is: http://thomas.loc.gov/)
1) The Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) fund increase in payments to local victim assistance programs, passed in the October 26th, 2001 Terrorism Bill (USA Patriot Act of 2001, HR 3162), and then eliminated again three weeks later in the FY 2002 Commerce, Justice, & State Appropriations (HR 2500), is still not resolved. The consensus of Victim Advocates is to urge Congress to increase VOCA payments by $125 million for FY 2002, and ask that no new ear marking of funds for special projects be done out of the VOCA fund.
2) The recent FBI emphasis on terrorism, rather than white collar crimes, may affect the future of the criminal penalties which make up the VOCA Fund . In the weeks after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, the FBI brought 76% fewer cases for prosecution (down from 1,427 to only 263), and a similar drop in Awhite collar@ crime referrals from 649 down to 138. This is an issue to watch.
3) Violence Against Women Act funding from the U.S. Congress is not being appropriated at the amounts allowed in the re-authorization in 1998 (HR 3514 and S 2110). VAWA funds come in two streams to Ohio. One funding stream is the VAWA grant from the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services, and other is the VAWA grant through the Ohio Dept. of Health Rape Prevention Section coming from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta. Nationally, VAWA funds were reduced by Congress in the 2001 and 2002 grants to local service programs. Congress needs to be urged to fund VAWA at authorized levels.
4) The proposed Victim Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the 28th Amendment, (Senate - S.J.R. 35; House - H.J.R. 91). The language is shortened from the version passed by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, and debated on the Senate Floor for three days in January of 2000. The National Victims Constitutional Amendment Network (www.nvcap.org) has approved the language. The amendment guarantees victims of violent crime the right to: timely notification of any release, escape and public proceeding; inclusion in proceedings; be heard at release, plea, sentencing, and pardon proceedings; protection from undue delays; and, the right to have the victims safety considered and restitution ordered. Congress needs to be urged to support and vote on the Victims Rights Amendment.
5) The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the federal gun ban for anyone subject to a protection order. The case in question involved a domestic violence batterer. (June, 2002)
6) The Debbie Smith Act (HR 2874 and S 2055), if passed by Congress, would provide funding to reduce the backlog of rape kits and DNA evidence awaiting analysis and entering into the national DNA database. It would also make grants to train Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE) and other first responders, and establish minimum standards for DNA evidence kits for all states.
7) FBI Uniformed Crime Report definition of rape needs to be updated. Not included in the definition are rape of any males, oral and anal intercourse, penetration with an object or digit, rape of females by females, incest, statutory rape, and non-forcible rape. In addition, if rape occurs during a robbery or murder, the rape will not be counted statistically. To support this change contact the Women=s Law Project at ctracy@womenslawproject.org.
Return to top
Federal Legislation Update (January, 2002)
by David Voth, Crime Victim Services (419-222-8666)
1) The Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) fund was enhanced in the Terrorism Bill (USA Patriot Act of 2001, HR 3162), passed by Congress and signed by President Bush on October 26th, 2001. VOCA money is all from federal criminal fines and costs and none of it is tax dollars. One good change was removing the arbitrary "cap" on victim assistance money allocated. The new formula, called the "managed cap," allows for a 10% increase for victim assistance programs grants when the VOCA fund has the money, and a 20% increase if the fund balance (now at over 1.3 billion) is more than double the prior year payout (last year was 576 million). Moving from an arbitrary cap to a managed cap (percentage formula) was a compromise between a few Congressional people who wanted the dollar cap vs. most Victim Advocates who wanted all VOCA funds allocated each year because "extra money" in the VOCA fund could disappear if not used for victims.
Then a stunning event took place several weeks later. A VOCA cap of $550 million was reimposed in legislation passed as part of the FY 2002 Commerce, Justice, & State Appropriations conference report (HR 2500) and signed by President Bush. Neither Senate nor House passed this VOCA change, it was created by the conference committee working on the federal budget. Due to other changes in VOCA distribution formulas for terrorism, new federal Victim Advocates, federal victim notification system, special children and Indian Country grants, etc., this 550 million cap could mean a reduction in VOCA funds to victim assistance programs across the nation.
The VOCA "managed cap" passed in the Terrorism Bill needs reinstated, and contacts to Congressional Representatives and Senators in Washington, D.C. are critical.
1a) Because the VOCA funds are criminal fines and not tax dollars, the recent drop in new federal criminal cases may also have a long term affect on future VOCA dollars. In the two weeks after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, the FBI brought 76% fewer cases for prosecution (down form 1,427 to only 263), and a similar drop in "white collar" crime referrals from 649 down to 138. Even if this is temporary, and local prosecutors handle cases like bank robbery, the federal fines collected will still be lost to VOCA. Two questions which need asked over time are whether the "white collar" crime cases that fund most of VOCA will be neglected due to the new emphasis on terrorism, and whether there is also a "business orientation" of the Bush administration which is "chilling" the white collar investigations - and thus the VOCA fund.
2) Violence Against Women Act funding from the U.S. Congress is not being appropriated at the amounts allowed in the re-authorization in 1998 (HR 3514 and S 2110). VAWA funds come in two streams to Ohio. One funding stream is the VAWA grant from the Office of Criminal Justice Services, and one is the VAWA grant through the Dept. of Health Rape Prevention Section coming from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta. Both have had reductions in the 2001 and 2002 grants to local service programs, even though the original VAWA legislation did not have reductions. Congressional Representatives and Senators in Washington, D.C., need to be asked for the authorized VAWA funding levels.
3) The proposed Victim Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the 28th Amendment, is in the final stages of being revised for re-introduction in the U.S. Senate by sponsors Sen. Jon Kyl (R - Arizona) and Diane Feinstein (D - California). The new draft is a shortened version of the one which passed the Senate Judiciary Committee and sub-committee on Constitutional Law, and was debated on the Senate Floor for three days in January of 2000. The National Victims Constitutional Amendment Network (www.nvcap.org) has approved the draft language. The amendment would guarantee victims of violent crime such rights as: timely notification of any release, escape and public proceeding; inclusion in proceedings; the right to be heard at release, plea, sentencing, and pardon proceedings; and protection from undue delays; and, the right to have the victims safety considered and restitution ordered. The Ohio Victim Witness Association helps financially sponsor David Voth to be on the NVCAN National Board.