Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 96 Part 1.djvu/1290

 96 STAT. 1248

PUBLIC LAW 97-291—OCT. 12, 1982

Public Law 97-291 97th Congress An Act Oct. 12, 1982 [S. 2420]

ipQ provide additional protections and assistance to victims and witnesses in Federal cases.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Victim and United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may SotTcfion Act of ^ ^^^^ ^ *^® "Victim and Witness Protection Act of 1982". 1982. 18 USC 1501 note.

18 USC 1512 ^°^-

FINDINGS AND PURPOSES

SEC. 2. (a) The Congress finds and declares that: (1) Without the cooperation of victims and witnesses, the criminal justice system would cease to function; yet with few exceptions these individuals are either ignored by the criminal justice system or simply used as tools to identify and punish offenders. (2) All too often the victim of a serious crime is forced to suffer physical, psychological, or financial hardship first as a result of the criminal act and then as a result of contact with a criminal justice system unresponsive to the real needs of such victim. (3) Although the majority of serious crimes falls under the jurisdiction of State and local law enforcement agencies, the Federal Government, and in particular the Attorney General, has an important leadership role to assume in ensuring that victims of crime, whether at the Federal, State, or local level, are given proper treatment by agencies administering the criminal justice system. (4) Under current law, law enforcement agencies must have cooperation from a victim of crime and yet neither the agencies nor the legal system can offer adequate protection or assistance when the victim, as a result of such cooperation, is threatened or intimidated. (5) While the defendant is provided with counsel who can explain both the criminal justice process and the rights of the defendant, the victim or witness has no counterpart and is usually not even notified when the defendant is released on bail, the case is dismissed, a plea to a lesser charge is accepted, or a court date is changed. (6) The victim and witness who cooperate with the prosecutor often find that the transportation, parking facilities, and child care services at the court are unsatisfactory and they must often share the pretrial waiting room with the defendant or his family and friends. (7) The victim may lose valuable property to a criminal only to lose it again for long periods of time to Federal law enforcement officials, until the trial and sometimes and appeals are over; many times that property is damaged or lost, which is particularly stressful for the elderly or poor. (b) The Congress declares that the purposes of this Act are—

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