U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Office for Victims of Crime

APRIL 2006

What Is the Justice

for All Act? 

T

he Justice for All Act of 2004 (H.R.

5107, Public Law 108-405) (the Act)

was signed into law by President George

W. Bush on October 30, 2004. The Act

contains four major sections related to

crime victims and the criminal justice

process. Some of the purposes of the 

Act are to protect crime victims’ rights,

eliminate the substantial backlog of

DNA samples collected from crime

scenes and convicted offenders, and

improve and expand the DNA testing

capacity of federal, state, and local

crime laboratories.

The first section of the Act establishes

the rights of crime victims in federal

criminal proceedings and provides mechanisms for enforcing these rights. The

Act is the result of years of hard work by

many individuals, and it is an important

first step toward achieving true justice 

for victims of crime. Although the Act

extends protections to victims within 

the federal criminal justice system, it is

hoped that this legislation will serve as a

model for states that have not yet enacted legislation establishing crime victims’

rights.

What the Justice for

All Act of 2004

Contains

■ Scott Campbell, Stephanie Roper,

Wendy Preston, Louarna Gillis, and

Nila Lynn Crime Victims’ Rights

Act 

■ Debbie Smith Act of 2004 

■ DNA Sexual Assault Justice Act 

of 2004 

■ Innocence Protection Act of 2004

The purpose of this fact sheet is to provide information about the Scott Campbell, Stephanie Roper, Wendy Preston,

Louarna Gillis, and Nila Lynn Crime

Victims’ Rights Act. Section 3771 (a) 

of this Act amends the federal criminal

code to grant crime victims specified

rights, including:

(1) The right to be reasonably protected

from the accused.

(2) The right to reasonable, accurate,

and timely notice of any public

court proceeding or any parole 

proceeding involving the crime, or

of any release or escape of the

accused.

(3) The right not to be excluded from

any such public court proceeding,

unless the court, after receiving

clear and convincing evidence,

determines that testimony by the

victim would be materially altered 

if the victim heard other testimony

at that proceeding.

(4) The right to be reasonably heard at

any public proceeding in the district

court involving release, plea, sentencing, or any parole proceeding.

(5) The reasonable right to confer with

the attorney for the Government in

the case.

(6) The right to full and timely restitution as provided in law.

(7) The right to proceedings free from

unreasonable delay. 

(8) The right to be treated with fairness

and with respect for the victim’s

dignity and privacy.

What the Act

Accomplishes 

T

he Act adds new victims’ rights and

modifies some of the existing rights.

Most notable is the new right of victims

The Justice for All Act

Office of Justice Programs • Partnerships for Safer Communities • www.ojp.usdoj.gov
2

to be reasonably heard at any public

proceeding involving release, plea, or

sentencing. The Act also requires prosecutors to advise victims that they can

seek the advice of an attorney with

respect to the rights established by the

Act. Although the Act does not provide

grounds for a new trial, it allows victims

to file motions to reopen a plea or a

sentence in certain circumstances.

For purposes of the Act, a victim is “a

person directly and proximately harmed

as a result of the commission of a federal

offense or an offense in the District of

Columbia.” This language expands the

definition of victim in the “Services to

Victims” section of the Victims of Crime

Act, which allows such services only for

those who suffered “direct physical,

emotional, or pecuniary harm.”

Asserting and

Enforcing Victims’

Rights

T

he Act creates several enforcement

mechanisms. Either the crime victim

or the Government may assert the victim’s rights in the district court. If, after

making a motion in the district court, a

victim or the Government is not satisfied that the victim’s rights have been

recognized, either may file a petition

with the court of appeals. The court of

appeals must issue a decision within 72

hours of filing, and if it denies the relief

sought, must state clearly on the record

in a written opinion the reasons for the

denial.

Additional Provisions

To Promote

Compliance

T

he provisions of the Act require that

within 1 year from the date of the

Act’s enactment, the Attorney General

(1) designate an administrative 

authority within the Department of 

Justice to receive and investigate complaints relating to the provision or

violation of crime victims’ rights; (2)

provide for additional training regarding

crime victims’ rights; and (3) create

disciplinary sanctions for Department of

Justice employees who “willfully or

wantonly” fail to meet their obligations

to crime victims.

Provisions of the Act That

Have Been Implemented

The Department of Justice issued a revision of the Attorney General Guidelines 

for Victim and Witness Assistance 

(AG Guidelines). These AG Guidelines

(www.usdoj.gov/olp/final.pdf) require

responsible officials to report on their

compliance to the Attorney General

through the Director of the Office for

Victims of Crime (OVC) by means of an

Annual Compliance Report containing

relevant data (including the number of

crime victims offered services). The AG

Guidelines require responsible officials to

ensure that all employees whose primary

responsibilities include contact with

crime victims and witnesses receive a

copy of these guidelines and that these

employees be trained for no less than 1

hour within 60 days of assuming such

responsibilities.

The AG Guidelines also require that

these same employees undergo additional

training within a reasonable amount of

time if these guidelines or the law relating to victims’ rights change. The AG

Guidelines also state that disciplinary

action such as suspension or termination

of employment may result if employees

fail to comply with provisions of federal

law for the treatment of crime victims. 

Limitations of the Act 

I

t should be noted that the Act does

not create a separate cause of action to

allow a victim to file a lawsuit against

the Federal Government if the victim

believes that his or her rights have not

been provided. In addition, the Act is

not intended to impair prosecutorial

discretion in the handling of the case.

Finally, the Act does not create an

attorney-client relationship between 

the victim and a representative of the

Department of Justice.

Authorized Funding

I

n addition to the new rights it provides, the Act authorizes funding for

the following: 

(1) Grants to state, tribal, and local

prosecutors’ offices, law enforcement

agencies, courts, jails, and correctional institutions, and to qualified

public and private entities, to

develop, establish, and maintain

programs for the enforcement of

crime victims’ rights.

(2) Grants to organizations that provide

legal counsel and support services

for victims in criminal cases, for the

enforcement of crime victims’ rights

in federal jurisdictions, and in states

and tribal governments that have

laws substantially equivalent to the

provisions of the Justice for All Act.

(3) Training and technical assistance to

state and tribal jurisdictions that

wish to craft state-of-the-art victims’

rights laws, and design compliance

systems to ensure that those rights

are enforced.

(4) Enhancement of the Victim Notification System, which enables federal law enforcement to make sure

that crime victims receive timely

notification of all court proceedings,

parole and probation hearings, and

any release hearings.

(5) The United States Attorneys’

Offices for Victim/Witness 

Assistance Programs. 
3

Although the Act has authorized funding, to date, funding has not yet been

appropriated by Congress. 

First Test Case:

January 2006

I

n late January, the United States

Court of Appeals for the Ninth

Circuit decided Kenna v. U.S. District

Court for the Central District of

California, in which the court considered whether the Crime Victims’

Rights Act (CVRA), 18 U.S.C. Section 3771, gave victims the right to

speak at sentencing hearings. The case

involved a father and son who swindled

dozens of victims. The defendants pled

guilty to wire fraud and money laundering. More than 60 victims submitted

victim impact statements. At the

father’s sentencing, several victims

spoke about the effects of the crimes,

but at the son’s sentencing, the judge

refused to allow the victims to speak.

The Court of Appeals relied heavily on

statements made by U.S. Senators Jon

Kyl and Dianne Feinstein, sponsors of

the CVRA, and held that the district

judge had made a mistake. 

In its decision, the appeals court made

the following three important points:

(1) in passing the Crime Victims’ Rights

Act, it was the intent of Congress to

allow victims to speak at sentencing

hearings, not just to submit victim

impact statements; (2) victims have a

right to speak even if there is more than

one criminal sentencing; and (3) the

remedy for a crime victim denied the

right to speak at a sentencing hearing is

to have the sentence vacated and a new

sentencing hearing held in which the

victims are allowed to speak. This decision is an important step in securing

the rights of crime victims. 

For More Information 

F or more information about theOffice for Victims of Crime, contact 

Office for Victims of Crime

U.S. Department of Justice

810 Seventh Street NW., Eighth Floor

Washington, DC 20531

202–307–5983

Fax: 202–514–6383

Web site: www.ovc.gov 

For copies of this fact sheet and other

OVC publications or information on

additional victim-related resources,

please contact 

OVC Resource Center

P.O. Box 6000

Rockville, MD 20849–6000

1–800–851–3420 or 301–519–5500

(TTY 1–877–712–9279)

Ask OVC: http://ovc.ncjrs.gov/askovc 

Web site: www.ncjrs.gov

Or order OVC publications online at

http://ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/Alpha

List.aspx.

For information about training and

technical assistance from OVC, contact 

OVC Training and Technical 

Assistance Center

10530 Rosehaven Street, Suite 400 

Fairfax, VA 22030

Phone: 1–866–OVC–TTAC

(1–866–682–8822) 

TTY: 1–866–682–8880 

E-mail: TTAC@ovcttac.org 

Web site: www.ovcttac.org 

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The Office for Victims of Crime is a

component of the Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of

Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice

Statistics, the National Institute of Justice,

and the Office of Juvenile Justice and

Delinquency Prevention.

OVC’s Web Forum

http://ovc.ncjrs.gov/ovcproviderforum

OVC’s Web Forum allows participants to

tap into a national network of people

with various backgrounds but all facing

similar challenges and experiences. It’s

the perfect place for crime victim service

providers and allied professionals to

gain peer insight and support related 

to best practices in victim services.

Features include—

■ Guest host sessions that give you

access to experts in the field on

topics such as stalking, drunk driving,

terrorism, victimization in Indian

Country, and domestic violence.

■ OVC news and announcements that

report current OVC-focused initiatives and relevant topics and events

with a primary focus on best 

practices.

■ A user-friendly search engine that

helps you scan and retrieve posts by

topic of interest, keywords, or date.

■ Hot topics that include posts from

unique users or forum topics that are

relevant to current events in victim

assistance.

■ The host of the month that highlights a single user post that captures

the essence of a forum topic or a

popular issue.

Make connections. 

Share ideas. Change lives.
PRESORTED STANDARD

POSTAGE & FEES PAID

DOJ/OVC

PERMIT NO. G–91

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Office for Victims of Crime

Washington, DC 20531

Official Business

Penalty for Private Use $300

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