Washington, D.C. - U.S. Representative Kevin Brady (R-TX), an advocate of victims rights legislation since his early days in the Texas legislature, joined U.S. Congressman Steve Chabot (R-OH) today to introduce legislation that will increase the rights of violent crime victims.

 

"Guaranteeing basic constitutional rights to victims is important to America because we are a country with two classes of citizens -- those who have been touched by violent crime and those who someday will be," said Brady.  "It is not enough to bring justice to criminals, we must also bring justice to those too often forgotten -- the victims and their surviving family."

 

"These are fundamental, common-sense rights for victims that -- with the exception of a few enlightened states -- today are either unavailable or routinely unenforced," said Brady.

 

The latest statistics available from the Department of Justice indicate that nearly 6 million Americans were victims of violent crime.  The Constitution should include an amendment to guarantee fundamental rights to these Americans, Congress needs to act now.

Brady's father, an attorney, was killed in a 1967 South Dakota courtroom shooting, leaving his widow to raise five children, ages 3 to 14.  The killer was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole. In 1998 the Texas Department of Criminal Justice named Brady its Crime Victims Advocate of the Year for his criminal justice reforms. 

 

The Crime Victims' Rights Constitutional Amendment would empower crime victims by allowing them to reasonably be heard at sentence or parole hearings; protect victims by requiring that they be notified about the release or escape of the perpetrator from custody and by requiring that the victim's safety be considered in determining a release from custody; and restore victims by guaranteeing them the right to seek restitution from their attackers.