Think Preventive – Life Is Precious

Why? Shouldn’t law like medicine reflect reality and "First, do no harm"to the victims?

NAMES OF MURDER VICTIMS


Unsolved Murder Victim: Lacey Claire Gaines, Solved Murder Victims: Victoria Larson, Det Mike Mayborne, Jenny Crompton

2 Criminal and victim rights hang in an ugly imbalance. You would think that America - one of the greatest countries in the world - would know better how to protect it’s citizens.

Restoring the Balance of Justice to the Victim
Wouldn’t it be nice if the justice system supported homicide survivors with the same love and understanding the medical community shows a cancer victim? Undergoing chemotherapy is scary and so is trying to recover from a homicide. But there’s no TLC for homicide survivors. Medical advancements are advancing the war with cancer. The same can’t be said about homicide. Why? Shouldn’t law like medicine reflect reality and "First, do no harm"to the victims?”

Our justice system does more to uphold criminal rights than it does victim’s rights. It means criminals should be prosecuted in a just way. This shouldn’t mean letting the criminal lie, cheat, manipulate or slip his way out of the truth or justice, or God forbid coddling him at the expense of the victim!

How many of us remember the names of the Ted Bundy’s victim’s? You don’t! - but you remember the killer Ted Bundy’s name. It's high time that we remember the names and the lives of the VICTIMS.

There should be someone who will argue for the rights of the victim. The Prosecutor doesn’t do it they represent the State, and the Defense represents the Accused. So who’s looking out for the victim? In reality victim’s rights are rarely enforced. Therefore, we need to restore the balance of justice to the victims.

Crime victims have a right to be heard in criminal proceedings and may directly address the court, with their own private attorney, to advance their rights under victims' "Bill of Rights" laws.


Andrea Will murder victim 1999

Andrea’s Law - Murder Registry
1 The legislation, known as “Andrea’s Law,” is named after Andrea Will who was strangled to death in 1998 by her ex-boyfriend, Justin J. Boulay who was released from prison in November after serving only 12 of his 24-year sentence.

One of the first in the country, State Representative Dennis Reboletti (R-Elmhurst) passed Andrea’s Law recently out of the Judiciary II Committee that calls for the creation of a murderer registry. House Bill 263 is a natural extension to the state’s current sex offender and child murderer registry that will allow residents to take proper safeguards if a convicted murderer lives in their neighborhood,” said Reboletti, a former prosecutor. “Law enforcement will also be put on notice as to the movement and locations of these individuals, long after they are released from custody.”

Patricia Rosenberg of Batavia - Andrea Will’s mother, supports the murderer registry.

“House Bill 263 Andrea’s Law, would not only finally service justice for Andrea, but also for all of the families who have lost a loved one at the hands of another. We need to make sure there is accountability for first-degree murder beyond the prison gate. We all have the right to know if that murderer is living in our neighborhood or right next door,” said Rosenberg. “I was not able to protect my child from what happened to her, but his bill may help to protect someone else – if only they knew.”

In March 1999, Boulay was convicted of first-degree murder. At the time of the sentence, Illinois law allowed one day cut from the sentence for every day of good behavior. Since then, Illinois adopted truth-in-sentencing laws that require those convicted of violent crimes to serve at least 85 percent of their sentences.

Upon his release from prison, Boulay moved to Hawaii with his wife and will be on parole for three years and must undergo anger management.

Due to the Boulay case, Hawaii legislators are also proposing a murderer registry. Hopefully other states will follow.

Many citizens think they are protected by the national NICE or LEADS systems but in reality they are not. There is no standardization of forms state to state. The murder registry will be in a sense a work around to the problem of criminals staying under the radar. It will act as a deterrent and save lives.


Cindy Bischof Murder Victim

GPS Tracking Another Crime Deterrent Tool
The Cindy Bischof Law was put into effect in 2009.

The GPS has a 100% success rate in keeping women alive. We need an effective legal guarantee of personal-security for victims of domestic abuse. I think it’s a wonderful tool and will not only help save lives but prevents crime and helps to prosecute crime. We all have GPS on our phones and now we’ve got a microchip being put on our 4USPS postage stamps because of anthrax and congress. They already use them on sex offenders DOC has them and have monitored and used the data to prosecute perpetrators. I believe it is inevitable we will all see them utilized soon in many different ways.

I also think the GPS is important for women’s human rights. Too many women are dying from domestic violence. It saves lives. It shouldn’t be about money, it should be about saving lives. At the rate prisoners are being released early we all need this crime deterrent tool.

Women are being blamed for getting themselves beat and raped by men they know and then chastised for not liking them after wards. We need the state to recognize that women are violated because we are women (a form of unequal treatment which needs legal teeth) the GPS helps do exactly that and more.

Primal Prevention of Homicide
While we may never see a Hallmark Card saying “I’m sorry for your child’s homicide” it’s good to know there are some like State Representative Dennis Reboletti and the Cindy Bischof Foundation taking Primal Prevention of Homicide seriously.

I'd be remiss if I didn't also include a daughter of a murdered mother by her abusive Dad (who then killed himself), a friend who maybe because she lost her parents, has spent her life trying to save others. Susan Murphy-Milano has come up with an interesting set of homicide prevention tools, i.e., Evidentiary Abuse Affidavide and 6 Intimate Partner Harm Reduction Act.

Another key to success is everyday practicability. Funds need to be applied to epidemiological research towards finding ways to prevent homicide and stop waiting until there’s another homicide victim willing to testify for Bills needed to to protect the living.

References:

1. CBS Chicago Victim’s Mother Campaigns For Murder Registry Law
2. Time’s Up Blog Support for Homicide Survivors will Enhance Victim’s Rights in Illinois
3. GPS Tracking: http://www.thehotline.org/2009/05/gps-tracking/
4. ‘Smart stamps’ next in war on terrorism http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2003/oct/26/20031026-124606-8419r/
5. Cindy Bischof Foundation: http://cindysmemorial.org/

6. Intimate Partner Harm Reduction Act: http://www.susanmurphymilano.com/p/intimate-partner-harm-reduction-act.html