Catholic Relief Services
LEGISLATIVE VICTORIES!
By Andy Rivas,
U.S. Bishops Department of Social Development and World Peace
Kudos on two legislative victories! Death Penalty Reform on October 9, 2004, the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives passed the amended version of H.R. 5107, the Justice for All Act of 2004. This anti-crime bill includes the Advancing Justice Through DNA Technology Act and crime victims’ rights legislation.
The legislation ensures access to post-conviction DNA testing for those currently serving time in prison or on death row for crimes they did not commit; it provides much-needed funds to test a nationwide backlog of more than 300,000 rape kits and other crime scene evidence. A strategic move by the House led to a dramatic improvement in H.R. 5107 with the addition of victims’ provisions including funding for victims’ services through grants to prosecutor and defender offices, as well as assistance to families of murder victims. In the end, the legislation enjoyed the support of leaders from the victims’ rights community, criminal justice reform advocates and even those who support the use of the death penalty. Cardinal McCarrick wrote numerous letters to Congress urging the passage of this legislation. Bishop Gregory called on President Bush to sign it. The passage of the Justice for All Act of 2004 is the result of three years of steady advocacy and negotiation. Our appreciation and congratulations go to all who called or wrote in support of this legislation. It is not only an important step in criminal justice reform and victims’ rights but also could lead to a reduction in the use of the death penalty.
About the Justice for All Act of 2004 (H.R. 5107):
Two core components include: Crime Victims’ Rights:
This portion of the bill provides substantive rights for crime victims, as well as mechanisms to enforce these rights. It also authorizes $155 million in funding over the next five years for victims’ assistance programs at the Federal and state level, including victim/witness assistance programs at the offices of the United States Attorneys; enhancement of the victim notification system at the Department of justice, organizations that provide legal counsel and support services for victims; and creation of state-of-the-art victims’ rights laws and compliance systems in the states.
The Advancing Justice Through DNA Technology portion of the bill enacts the Debbie Smith Backlog Grant Program, providing $755 million to test the backlog of over 300,000 rape kits and other crime scene evidence awaiting analysis in our nation’s crime labs. It enacts the DNA Sexual Assault Justice Act and the Rape Kits and DNA Evidence Backlog Elimination Act, authorizing more than $500 million for programs to improve the capacity of crime labs to conduct DNA analysis, reduce examiner programs, and promote the use of DNA to identify missing persons; creates the Kirk Bloodsworth Post-Conviction DNA Testing Program and authorizes $25 million over five years to help states pay the costs of post-conviction DNA testing; and authorizes grants to states for capital prosecution and capital defense improvement, which will be used to train, oversee, and improve the quality of death penalty trials, as well as assist families of murder victims.
Assistance for Returning Offenders
On October 6, 2004, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed S. 1194, the Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Act of 2003. The Act was introduced in the Senate by Senator Mike DeWine (R-OH) and presents a good beginning towards ensuring that mentally ill offenders receive the proper treatment they need with grants designed to create community based treatment programs and other services. The programs receiving the grants would be required to operate collaboratively with criminal justice and mental health agencies. In March of this year, Cardinal McCarrick, Chairman of the Domestic Policy Committee, and Mr. Tom De Stefano, President of Catholic Charities USA, wrote to the members of the House Judiciary Committee asking them to support Senator DeWine’s bill. The President is expected to sing the bill sometime this week. For all of you who called or wrote to urge support for this bill, you deserve a great deal of the credit for its passage. Thank you for your efforts.
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