April 21, 2014

Conference Spotlight: Program Highlights

The 13th Annual Crime Victim Law Conference is fast approaching!  Join us June 20-21st in Portland, OR. The program is packed with amazing speakers presenting on cutting edge topics!  Read these highlights and register today!
The 13th annual Crime Victim Law Conference is fast approaching! Join us June 20-21st in Portland, OR. The program is packed with amazing speakers presenting on cutting-edge topics!  Read these highlights and register today! 

  

Plenary: Architecture of a Victims’ Rights Case: How Amy Made it to the U.S. Supreme Court
On January 22, 2014, in a criminal case filed by the Government, the United States Supreme Court heard from Amy’s attorneys.  Amy is a victim of child abuse imagery (a.k.a. child pornography) seeking restitution.  This case marked the first time a victim’s attorney was heard directly by the Court in such a case!  Amy’s attorneys, Paul Cassell, Ronald N. Boyce Presidential Professor of Criminal Law at the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah, and James Marsh, an experienced trial attorney and frequent commentator, lecturer, and author on legal issues affecting children, will open the Conference discussing their strategies and tactics to secure full restitution for Amy, including counseling costs and lost income, beginning in the trial court in Texas all the way through oral argument this January! 

 

Plenary: Modern Day Slavery - At Home and Abroad
Human trafficking, the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor or a modern-day form of slavery, is a $32 billion industry per year and is second only to drug trafficking as the number one criminal endeavor in the world. Over 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders each year; 50% of them are children and 80% of them are women and girls. A common misconception about human trafficking is that it only happens abroad. In reality, it is happens in our neighborhoods. Amanda Marshall, the United States Attorney for the District of Oregon and former Oregon Assistant Attorney General, will discuss this growing threat of human trafficking and how we can respond to it! 

Breakout: Understanding the Sword and Shield of Technology
Technology can be used to stalk, harass, and violate laws meant to protect victims or it can be used to enhance victim privacy and safety. Valenda Applegarth, Senior Staff Attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services in Boston and founder of the nation’s first Relocation Counseling Project, will showcase both aspects of technology using examples from cases of sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking, forced marriage, and other crimes. She will address Internet data gathering and sharing and what tools are used to protect privacy in browsing the Internet and gaining anonymity.
 

Breakout: Improving Law Enforcement Response to Sexual Violence: The “You Have Options” Program 

Sexual violence victims are often put to a Hobson choice: access the justice system OR protect your privacy, dignity, and yourself. This choice is first put to them at the moment of choosing to report. Detective Carrie Hull of the Ashland Police Department (Oregon) will present on the creation and implementation of the “You Have Options Program” that is designed to transform the criminal justice response to sexual assault.