Inaugural Voices For Justice Award Recipient Announced
NCVLI is proud to announce that the Oregon Crime Victim Law Center is the recipient of the inaugural Voices for Justice Award. The Award recognizes individuals or organizations in Oregon who fight to ensure that victims’ voices are heard and not silenced in the criminal justice system. Click here to read more.
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The Voices for Justice Award recognizes individuals or organizations in Oregon who fight to ensure that victims’ voices are heard and not silenced in the criminal justice system.
When considering the inaugural award, it was clear who in Oregon should receive it. NCVLI is proud to present the Oregon Crime Victim Law Center (OCVLC) with the inaugural Voices for Justice Award.
OCVLC was founded in 2009 by a group of respected veterans of the Oregon crime victims’ rights movement to meet the need for attorneys and advocates to educate victims about their rights in criminal proceedings and to assist them in enforcing those rights. OCVLC’s founders understood the importance of defending and advancing victims’ rights as a way to ensure a fair and balanced criminal justice system that promotes respect, dignity, and meaningful participation by crime victims, particularly for vulnerable victims who have challenges that make it difficult for them to effectively advocate for themselves. OCVLC strives to diminish the likelihood that individual victims will be re-victimized by criminal justice system players, to create remedies when violations of rights occur, and to re-empower victims by providing the information, services, and support that victims need to restore stability in their lives and begin healing from the harm done to them.
In its first five years, OCVLC has served nearly 600 crime victims throughout the state – no small feat considering that until recently, OCVLC’s staff consisted of only a part-time Legal Director and full-time time Administrative Director/Victim Advocate. As of today, staff includes two full-time attorneys serving victims throughout Oregon.
OCVLC will be presented with the Award at the Inaugural Voices for Justice Reception on January 27, 2015 in Portland, OR. This event will be a true celebration as Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum is the featured speaker and former Chief Justice Paul De Muniz is the emcee. Click here to learn more and register for this event.
