Proposal to Amend Federal Criminal Procedure Rules to Incorporate Victims' Rights under the CVRA

Page 12 of 52 2005 B.Y.U.L. Rev. 835, *854 such conclusion would be contrary to the plain language of the CVRA. |!° To avoid possible confusion, the rules should be clear on this point. An additional reason for integrating victims into the federal rules is that Congress seemingly expects this to happen. Congress adopted the CVRA with the express goal of making the new law "a formula [*855] for success" and a "model for our States." 111 Congress clearly wants the new law aggressively implemented, thereby avoiding the need for further legislative action or even, possibly, a federal constitutional amendment. Congress is watching to see whether the Judiciary (and the Executive) will fully and fairly implement this new Act. As Senator Leahy warned, "Passage of this bill will necessitate careful oversight of its implementation by Congress." 1! Construing the CVRA to require changes is also appropriate because the Act is remedial legislation. As the Supreme Court has instructed, "When Congress uses broad generalized language in a remedial statute, and that language is not contravened by authoritative legislative history, a court should interpret the provision generously so as to effectuate the important congressional goals." !!3 The congressional sponsors described the victims’ rights in the CVRA as "broad rights," !!4 the significance of which should not "be whittled down or marginalized by the courts or the executive branch. This legislation is meant to correct, not continue, the legacy of the poor treatment of crime victims in the criminal process." !!> A final reason for amending the rules is that crime victims’ groups are looking for the effective implementation of the CVRA. They are urging that the federal rules be comprehensively amended to reflect victims’ rights; indeed, they have even suggested that Congress should directly amend the federal rules to include victims’ rights. !!© The Judiciary would be well advised not to ignore these lobbying efforts. Victims have proven very effective at advancing legislation in Congress, particularly where they have legitimate grievances about how they have been treated. !!7 Moreover, allowing the initiative for drafting of rules to pass from the Judiciary to Congress is not ideal. The Advisory Committee on Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure includes many skilled [*856] members with considerable experience in drafting rules. The Committee is well aware of the CVRA. Shortly after the passage of the CVRA, the Committee withdrew a 118 modest victim amendment it was proposing in anticipation of the need to make more extensive changes, and is already working on proposed amendments to the rules. |!° It is preferable to have victims integrated into the federal rules through careful drafting by the Committee rather than by the potentially blunderbuss approach of direct congressional action. For all these reasons, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure should be comprehensively amended to recognize the interests of crime victims and thereby to allow victims to be full participants in the criminal process. IV. Proposed Amendments to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure To Implement the CVRA With the goal of effectively implementing the CVRA firmly in mind, the remainder of this Article proposes twenty-eight specific rule changes for consideration by the Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules. The individual sections that follow first ® 18 U.S.C.A. 3771(a)(4) (Victims have "the right to be ... heard" at any public proceeding "involving ... [a] plea."). ' 150 Cong. Rec. $4262 (daily ed. Apr. 22, 2004) (statement of Sen. Feinstein). 2 Td. at S4271 (statement of Sen. Leahy). 3 California v. Am. Stores Co., 495 U.S. 271, 279 n.4 (1990) (quoting Cia. Petrolera Caribe, Inc. v. Arco Caribbean, Inc., 754 F.2d 404, 428 (Ist Cir. 1990)). + 150 Cong. Rec. $4269 (daily ed. Apr. 22, 2004) (statement of Sen. Kyl). 5 Td. (statement of Sen. Feinstein). © Interview with Steve J. Twist, Nat'l Victims' Constitutional Amendment Network (March 11, 2005). 7 See supra notes 27-34 and accompanying text (recounting victims’ legislation passed by Congress). 8 See infra note 223 and accompanying text. ° Telephone interview with Judge Susan C. Bucklew, Chair, Adv. Comm. on Fed. Rules of Criminal Procedure (May 2005). DAVID SCHOEN HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_017726