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Advocates tell Judiciary Committee Vermont victims lack enforceable rights; seek party status and better notification
Summary
Witnesses described statutory limits on victims' remedies, difficulties obtaining standing in criminal cases, and asked the committee to explore changes including party status and automated notification tied to case-management systems.
At a Feb. 4 Judiciary Committee hearing, advocates and system representatives described a gap between the victims' rights spelled out in statute and victims' ability to enforce those rights in Vermont courts.
Jennifer Pullman, executive director of the Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services, told the committee that Vermont’s victims’ rights are statutory rather than constitutional and said that legal remedies are limited. "There is no right without a remedy," Pullman said, summarizing why statutory rights without enforceable remedies are problematic.
What witnesses said: Pullman said 39 states have enshrined victims’ rights in their constitutions; Vermont relies on rights set out in Title 13 (criminal) and Title 33 (juvenile) statutes. She told lawmakers that some Vermont statutes explicitly say that the victim is not a party and that statutory language includes qualifiers like "reasonable" and "practicable,"…
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