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The Role Of The Victim In The Prosecution And Disposition Of A Criminal Case, Donald J. Hall

Vanderbilt Law Review

A theoretical underpinning of the American system of criminal justice is the notion that a criminal misdeed is a wrong against the entire society.' Accordingly, the local, state and federal governments, acting as the representatives of society, assume the duty and responsibility of prosecuting the individual wrongdoer. While the individual victim of a crime obviously is the party directly" wronged," society interjects and institutes the formal proceeding to ascertain criminal responsibility and determine the appropriate sanction to be imposed upon the accused. This constitutes a basic distinction between civil and criminal cases; the aggrieved individual is the named litigant in …