Victims' Rights Act (VRRA) mandates early identification of federal crime victims by the Justice Department

2014] CRIME VICTIMS’ RIGHTS 77 Passed in 1990, the VRRA provided crime victims with a set of procedural rights similar to those found in the CVRA, along with rights to notification about victim services.” In 2004, the CVRA repealed and replaced the section of the VRRA listing procedural rights, while leaving other parts of the VRRA intact.°? Under the remaining parts of the VRRA, the Justice Department must inform victims of federal crimes of services that are available to them, including “emergency medical and social services,” counseling, and support.”’ The Department is further obligated to keep victims fully informed about “the status of the investigation of the crime, to the extent it is appropriate to inform the victim and to the extent that it will not interfere with the investigation.’ These rights to notice about “emergency medical and social services”? as well as to the “status of the investigation of the crime” obviously require the Department to identify victims of federal crimes before formal charges have been filed. Indeed, the VRRA makes this point clear by directing the Department to not only notify the victim about the status of the investigation but also about the later “filing of charges against a suspected offender.”°’ The VRRA then extends victims’ rights to information through the rest of the criminal justice process by requiring the Department to provide notice to victims of such things as the imposed sentence and the defendant’s release.*° The VRRA not only requires the Department to identify victims during the investigation of a crime, it also defines those victims in a very similar fashion to the CVRA. The VRRA defines “victim” as a “person that has suffered direct physical, emotional, or pecuniary harm as a result of the commission of a crime.””’’ Thus, the Department is already routinely identifying persons who have been “harmed” by federal crimes shortly after the commission of those crimes and well before formal charging. The Attorney General has also promulgated internal guidelines requiring Justice Department components to identify victims rapidly after a crime. The Attorney General Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance provide that “Department responsibilities to crime victims begin as soon as possible after the detection of a crime at which they may be undertaken 8° See supra notes 22-23 and accompanying text. °° Justice for All Act of 2004, Pub. L. No. 108-405, § 102(a), 118 Stat. 2260, 2261 (2004) (codified at 18 U.S.C. § 3771(a) (2012)). l See 42 U.S.C. § 10607(c). * Td. § 10607(c)(3)(A). 3 Td. § 10607(c)(1)(A). 4 Td. § 10607(c)(3)(A). ° Td. § 10607(c)(3)(C). © Td. § 10607(c)(3\(G). °7 Td. § 10607(e)(2). HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_014056