DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GRETCHEN C.F. SHAPPERT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA

NEWS RELEASE
April 24, 2007

Direct Further Inquiries to:
Lynne Ward Crout
Victim-Witness Coordinator
U.S. Attorney’s Office
(828) 271-4661

WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA JOINS 2007 NATIONAL CRIME VICTIMS’ RIGHTS WEEK OBSERVANCE: “VICTIMS’ RIGHTS: EVERY VICTIM. EVERY TIME.”

WNC Crime Victims Coalition Honors Area Crime Victims and Service Providers

ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA - April 22-28 is National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, a time for all Americans to learn about victimization, reflect on the cost of crime to our society, and promote laws, policies, and programs to help victims of crime rebuild their lives. The week’s theme, “Victims’ Rights: Every Victim. Every Time.,” envisions a strengthened national commitment to the nearly 24 million Americans harmed by crime each year. Gretchen Shappert, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, joined the Western North Carolina Crime Victims Coalition along with Chief Bill Hogan of the Asheville Police Department and Sheriff Van Duncan of Buncombe County at the third annual Crime Victims Rights Honorary Luncheon today at The Broadway Arts Building in Asheville. The luncheon is given in honor of area crime victims and their families and in recognition of their struggles and their triumphs. Area professionals and volunteers are also recognized. William M. Polk, Director of Victims’ & Citizens’ Services, North Carolina Attorney General’s Office, gave the luncheon address.

April is nationally acknowledged as a time for special recognition of crime victims and survivors, as well as those who serve them. With each year’s commemoration of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, participants seize the opportunity to celebrate progress that has been made on behalf of crime victims, and to rededicate themselves to meet new challenges that lie ahead in the field of meeting the needs of crime victims everywhere. This year’s theme--“Victims’ Rights: Every Victim. Every Time.,”--captures the heart of the present and future mission of all crime victims service providers. The ultimate goal is for all victims to report crimes against them, to know and exercise their rights, and to receive the help they need to rebuild their lives.

The Western North Carolina Crime Victims’ Coalition recognized Western North Carolina victims and individuals who have made significant contributions in service to victims of crime at the Honorary Luncheon. The following persons, by award category, were acknowledged in a special way today in Asheville:

Victim Service Volunteer - Sarah Delcourt. Sarah is a Volunteer for Helpmate, Inc., Asheville, North Carolina, and has exhibited whole-hearted compassion to stop domestic violence in the lives of Latino women. She is a long time advocate who has experience working in the courts and with psychiatric and social services for Latinas who have suffered violence in their homes and live in fear.

Outstanding Criminal Justice Professional, Prosecutor - Chris Siewers. Chris serves as Tribal Prosecutor, The Cherokee Court, Cherokee, North Carolina. Chris received six separate nominations to win this award. He is a superb courtroom advocate not only for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, but for survivors of domestic violence and abuse. His legal expertise, dedicated to protecting victims and their families, makes him a powerful voice for those who often feel that they have no voice at all.

Extraordinary Victim Survivor - Lynn Nix Frisbee. Ms. Frisbee was nominated by the Henderson County District Attorney’s Office. This victim’s life was changed forever in May of 2006 when she was brutally assaulted by her son. She survived multiple stab wounds and lives today with many physical scars from the attack, but her emotions are the biggest scar she carries. Her son has suffered mental illness for many years, and she has been his primary care giver, always putting his needs above her own. Ms. Frisbee is a tremendous woman who has faced this time of unsurpassed hardship in her life with extraordinary faith and courage.

Outstanding Law Enforcement Professional - Sgt. Ernie Welborn. Sgt Welborn of the Asheville Police Department, Asheville, North Carolina, has worked in the criminal investigations division for the past ten years. In his capacity he has worked many violent crime cases and treats victims as though they were his own family.

Outstanding Medical Professional - Barbara Bressart. Dr. Bressart is a dentist practicing in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. Dr. Bressart works with domestic violence service providers to provide free dental services to assault victims.

Outstanding Victim Advocacy Professional - Amy Hobson. Amy Hobson is a Victim Advocate working shelter in Asheville and Ms. Hobson provides court advocacy and support to domestic violence victims.

Victim Service Provider to Children - Jennifer Standingdeer. Jennifer Standingdeer is a Victim Coordinator at the Heart-to-Heart Child Advocacy Center, Cherokee, North Carolina. Jennifer works with child victims where she provides “court school” for children who will testify in The Cherokee Court. Jennifer’s work helps to provide the children with what they need to make them more relaxed and confident about being a witness. She provides them education about the court system and coordinates meetings and appointments for child victims for their necessary counseling, treatment, and other support programs. She is a vital member of the Cherokee Child Protection Team and Cherokee Multi-Disciplinary team, both of which are aimed at protecting and assisting children.

Recognition of Victims’ Rights in the United States

During the past four decades, the United States has made dramatic progress in securing rights, protections, and services for victims of crime. Every state has enacted victims’ rights laws; law enforcement agencies give victims greater protection; and more than 10,000 victim assistance programs have been established throughout the country. Every state has a crime victim compensation fund, and powerful federal laws, such as the Violence Against Women Act and the Crime Victims’ Rights Act, help protect victims and fund needed services.

KEY VICTIMS’ RIGHTS LEGISLATION

1965 - The first crime victim compensation program is established in California
1970 - Five additional states add victim compensation programs
1972 - The first three victim assistance programs are established
1973 - The first National Crime Victimization Survey reports citizens’ exposure to crime
1974 - Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act
1980 - Federal Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act
1982 - Federal Victim and Witness Protection Act
1982 - Federal Missing Children’s Act
1984 - Federal Victims of Crime Act
1984 - Federal Justice Assistance Act
1984 - Federal Missing Children’s Assistance Act
1984 - Federal Family Violence Prevention and Services Act
1985 - Federal Children’s Justice Act
1988 - Federal Drunk Driving Prevention Act
1990 - Federal Hate Crime Statistics Act
1990 - Federal Victims of Child Abuse Act
1990 - Federal Victims’ Rights and Restitution Act
1990 - Federal National Child Search Assistance Act
1992 - Federal Battered Women’s Testimony Act
1993 - Federal Child Sexual Abuse Registry Act
1994 - Federal Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act
1994 - Federal Violence Against Women Act
1996 - Federal Community Notification Act (“Megan’s Law”)
1996 - Federal Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act
1996 - Federal Mandatory Victims’ Restitution Act
1997 - Federal Victims’ Rights Clarification Act
1998 - Federal Crime Victims with Disabilities Act
1998 - Federal Identity Theft and Deterrence Act
2000 - Federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act
2001 - Federal Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act
(established September 11th Victim Compensation Fund)

2003 - Federal PROTECT Act (“Amber Alert” law)
2003 - Federal Prison Rape Elimination Act
2003 - Federal Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act
2004 - Federal Justice for All Act, including Title I, The Scott Campbell, Stephanie Roper, Wendy Preston, Louarna Gillis, and Nila Lynn Crime Victims’ Rights Act
2006 - Federal Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act

Yet many crime victims have not experienced the promise of this great progress. Only a fraction of victims report the crimes against them and participate in the criminal justice system. Victims’ rights vary from state to state. Not all protections are enforced. Services are sometimes not available, or they may not meet the physical, financial, and psychological needs of victims or their families. Particularly vulnerable populations–the elderly, persons with disabilities, ethnic and racial minorities, or residents of rural areas–may not receive the support they need to rebuild their lives. “

We are all diminished when victims go without the protections and help they need,” said John W. Gillis, Director of the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. “Anytime a crime is not reported, a witness is intimidated, or an order of restitution is not enforced, we are all less secure. Achieving justice means repairing the harm suffered by all victims of crime.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina Receives 2007 Crime Victims’ Fund Award

The United States Department of Justice launched this year’s National Crime Victims’ Rights Week in Washington, D.C. last week with its fifth annual National Candlelight Observance Ceremony on April 19, and its Awards Ceremony on April 20, and honoured extraordinary individuals and programs that provide services to victims of crime. The Crime Victims Fund Award, which recognizes outstanding work in pursuit of federal criminal offenders and in the collection of fines, penalty fees, forfeited bail bonds, and special assessments that constitute the Crime Victims Fund, was presented to Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer A. Youngs of the Western District of North Carolina at the special Awards Ceremony in Washington on April 20.

Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Youngs has tirelessly advocated for the right of crime victims to recover restitution from federal criminal defendants. She initiated a campaign in the Western District of North Carolina to educate attorneys, judges, and probation officers on the requirements of the Mandatory Victim Restitution Act. As part of her personal efforts to further the campaign, AUSA Youngs attended numerous federal court hearings to protect victims under the statute, held training classes, and provided instructional memoranda to the bench. In her capacity in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina, Jennifer Youngs observed that some courts all across the country were violating the Mandatory Victim Restitution Act by removing mandatory restitution orders in criminal judgments where defendants were jailed for violating conditions of supervised release. Accordingly, AUSA Youngs appealed two cases from the Western District of N.C. to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and on September 7, 2006, the Appeals Court issued a published decision favourable to victims and their rights in the consolidated case of United States v. Roper. The Appeals Court held (among other things) that the lower courts were without power to reduce or eliminate a victim’s mandatory right to restitution. The Roper decision is the first published decision by a federal court of appeals that has upheld the right of crime victims to mandatory restitution and restricted the power of courts to reduce those rights. Now, courts nationally will look to the Roper decision as authority for the rule that mandatory restitution cannot be reduced or eliminated by court order. AUSA Jennifer Youngs’s achievements in court have set a precedent to help crime victims everywhere.

Victims’ Rights Activity in the Western District of North Carolina

Under the 2004 Justice For All Act, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina Victim/Witness Coordinators and staff work daily to ensure that the rights of all local crime victims are communicated to the victims and honoured according to law. For example, under the Justice for All Act, all crime victims have eight (8) basic rights according to Title 18, United States Code, Section 3771. Among those rights is the right to timely notice of any public court proceeding, or any parole proceeding which involves the crime, or of any release or escape of the accused. Victims are afforded the right to not be excluded from any public court proceeding under normal circumstances. Crime victims also possess, by law, the rights to be heard at public proceedings, to confer with the government attorney, to full and timely restitution, and to be treated with fairness and respect for his or her dignity and privacy. The zealous pursuit of victim restitution in the Western District of N.C. is magnified by the efforts of government attorneys such as Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Youngs, as described above. And in calendar year 2006, the Victim/Witness Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office sent out 34,104 victim notifications pursuant to the requirements of the Justice For All Act.

United States Attorney Gretchen Shappert emphasized the commitment of the federal government to protect and defend the rights of victims. “Victims of crime are the most compelling and vital component of every criminal prosecution. Each and every victim in a federal case is entitled to respect and compassion. Vindication of victims’ rights under the law is a significant part of our mission which we take very seriously. We recognize our duty to keep victims informed as to the status of their cases, and we advocate on behalf of their rights in the courts.

“In his remarks at the National Crime Victims’ Rights Week Candlelight Observance on Thursday, April 19, 2007, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales observed, “Remembering is crucial...It reminds us that victims are the beloved.... It’s easy to talk about crime statistics or trends. But when we remember victims, we remember that behind those statistics are people...”