Analysis of OLC Memorandum on Victims' Rights Act (CVRA) Coverage and Venue Provisions

86 CASSELL ET AL. [Vol. 104 right.'°° The reason for adopting such a broad right was that “[t]oo often victims of crime experience a secondary victimization at the hands of the criminal justice system. This provision is intended to direct Government agencies and employees, whether they are in the executive or judiciary branch, to treat victims of crime with the respect they deserve.”!°° OLC’s failure to consider the purposes underlying the CVRA is a glaring oversight. OLC never attempts to explain why the CVRA’s drafters would want victims to have a right to fair treatment once criminal charges were filed but possess no such right before the filing of criminal charges. Clearly, many victims can and do suffer secondary victimization during criminal investigations, such as when sexual assault victims are treated inappropriately by law enforcement agents.'°’ It would contradict the purpose of preventing victim mistreatment in the criminal justice system to artificially limit the right to fairness to the point at which charges are filed. The night to fairness logically applies at all stages of the criminal justice process. C. OLC’S INEFFECTIVE RESPONSE TO THE CVRA’S COVERAGE AND VENUE PROVISIONS At the end of its memorandum, OLC finally discusses what it identifies as the two strongest arguments for construing the CVRA as applying before charging: the coverage provision and the venue provision. OLC acknowledges, as it must, that the CVRA’s coverage extends to any federal employee engaged in “the defection, investigation or prosecution of crime.”'*’ Such employees “shall make their best efforts to see that crime victims are notified of, and accorded, the rights” afforded by the statute.'°’ Notably, this duty applies to individuals not just in the Justice Department (where all federal prosecutors are located) but other agencies as well, such 155 150 Cona. REc. 7303 (2004) (statement of Sen. Jon Kyl). 156 Iq 157 See SUSAN EstRICH, REAL Rape 50-51 (1987) (describing how a rape victim’s sexual history may be used against her in court proceedings), Beloof, supra note 38, at 309-10 (collecting examples of victims’ issues that arise during the investigative process); see also PRESIDENT’S TASK FORCE ON VICTIMS OF CRIME, FINAL REPORT, supra note 10, at 57-62 (making recommendations for how police should treat victims during the criminal justice process). 158 OLC CVRA Rights Memo, supra note 2, at 15 (quoting 18 U.S.C. § 3771(c)(1) (2012)) (internal quotation marks omitted). 1S 18 U.S.C. § 3771(c\1). HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_014065