Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 4 of 4
Full-Text Articles in Law
Circumventing The Crime Victims' Rights Act: A Critical Analysis Of The Eleventh Circuit's Decision Upholding Jeffrey Epstein's Secret Non-Prosecution Agreement, Paul Cassell, Jordan Peck, Bradley Edwards
Circumventing The Crime Victims' Rights Act: A Critical Analysis Of The Eleventh Circuit's Decision Upholding Jeffrey Epstein's Secret Non-Prosecution Agreement, Paul Cassell, Jordan Peck, Bradley Edwards
Utah Law Faculty Scholarship
Whether crime victims have rights before formal criminal charges are filed has recently come to the fore in one of the most publicized criminal cases in recent memory. For more than twelve years, victims of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking organization have attempted to invalidate a non-prosecution agreement (NPA) entered between Epstein and federal prosecutors. The victims have argued that because prosecutors deliberately concealed the NPA from them, the prosecutors violated the federal Crime Victim’s Rights Act (CVRA). On April 14, 2020, a divided panel of the Eleventh Circuit entered a surprising ruling, rejecting the victims’ argument. The panel refused to …
Protecting Crime Victims In State Constitutions: The Example Of The New Marsy's Law For Florida, Paul Cassell, Margaret Garvin
Protecting Crime Victims In State Constitutions: The Example Of The New Marsy's Law For Florida, Paul Cassell, Margaret Garvin
Utah Law Faculty Scholarship
A majority of states have adopted state constitutional amendments protecting crime victims’ rights. Most of those amendments were adopted long ago and many fail to comprehensively address crime victims’ interests. In response to these shortcomings, the nation is seeing a new wave of state constitutional amendments protecting crime victims’ rights. Among these states is Florida, where in November 2018 Florida voters approved significantly expanded protections for crime victims in Florida’s Constitution—“Marsy’s Law for Florida.”
This Article explains in detail how Marsy’s Law for Florida provides important new protections for crime victims in the Florida criminal justice process. The Article begins …
Policy Paper: The Need To Enhance Victims’ Rights In The Florida Constitution To Fully Protect Crime Victims’ Rights, Paul Cassell, Margaret Garvin
Policy Paper: The Need To Enhance Victims’ Rights In The Florida Constitution To Fully Protect Crime Victims’ Rights, Paul Cassell, Margaret Garvin
Utah Law Faculty Scholarship
Given the emerging consensus concerning victims' rights as reflected in many state constitutions as well as in federal law, Florida should not simply rest on the nearly thirty-year-old provison currently in its constitution. Instead, Florida should, through its established and recognized procedures, expand the protections contained in its provision to cover the rights reflected in provisions enacted across the country and reflected in Marsy's Law.
Crime Victims' Rights, Paul Cassell
Crime Victims' Rights, Paul Cassell
Utah Law Faculty Scholarship
Over the last 40 years, advocates for crime victims have succeeded in enshrining victims’ rights in state constitutions and other enactments. These provisions show that a consensus has developed around the country on certain core victims’ rights. Included in the core are, among other things, the right to notice of court hearings, to attend court hearings, to be heard at appropriate court hearings, to proceedings free from unreasonable delay, to consideration of the victims’ safety during the process, and to restitution. The current challenge for the country is ensuring that these core rights are fully and effectively implemented and that …