Bush pledges support for victims

WASHINGTON -- Victims of violent crime, too often an afterthought in the courts, deserve a constitutional amendment guaranteeing their rights, President Bush said Tuesday. \n"The protection of victims' rights is one of those rare instances when amending the Constitution is the right thing to do," he said, endorsing a proposal introduced Monday in the Senate by Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz. \nIf approved by a two-thirds majority of the House and Senate, and then ratified by at least 38 of the 50 states, the amendment would declare: \n"The rights of victims of violent crime, being capable of protection without denying the constitutional rights of those accused of victimizing them, are hereby established and shall not be denied by any state or the United States." \nIt would require that victims be notified of public court proceedings, allow victims to testify in sentencing and parole hearings about their experiences and require courts to consider claims of restitution for victims. \nIn 2000, Americans were victimized in more than 6 million violent crimes. "Behind each of these numbers is a terrible trauma, a story of suffering and a story of lost security. Yet the needs of victims are often an afterthought in our criminal justice system," Bush said at the Justice Department. \n"It's not just, it's not fair, and it must change." \nThe proposed amendment would not allow for new criminal trials or specific claims for damages. And courts would have the ability to restrict victims' rights if they substantially conflicted with public safety or the administration of justice. \nThe Senate Judiciary Committee approved a similar proposal last year, but threats of a filibuster kept the full Senate from voting on it. \nOpponents, led by Democrat Patrick Leahy, now chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, argued a federal statute would be the proper place to address victims' rights, not the Constitution, and a new law could be accomplished more quickly. A spokesman said Tuesday that Leahy's view remains unchanged, although he has not received a copy of the latest proposal. \nKyl countered that a constitutional amendment is called for because state courts -- governed by state laws, not federal statute -- are where most criminal cases are resolved and "despite their best intentions, judges and prosecutors just don't pay as much attention if it's just a statute." \nBesides, Kyl said, victims deserve rights as powerful as those the Constitution grants to accused criminals. \nExisting victims' rights laws, which vary by state, "are insufficient," Bush said. \nLast month in Utah, for example, the state Supreme Court suggested that a victims' rights law might be flawed because it may interfere with a defendant's right to a speedy trial. In that case, the court upheld the dismissal of a claim by the mother of a 10-year-old boy who was sexually abused. \nThe mother told prosecutors she wanted to object to a plea bargain that allowed the defendant to plead guilty to a misdemeanor, but she was not allowed to talk to the judge about her concerns until the day the man was sentenced. \nBush quoted victims as saying their courtroom experiences were like a "huge slap." \n"When our criminal justice system treats victims as bystanders," he said, "they are victimized a second time"