Fall 2010 Clinic Class Researches Important Victims’ Rights Issues

NCVLI Attorneys Meg Garvin, Terry Campos, and Alison Wilkinson taught the Fall 2010 Crime Victim Litigation Clinic at Lewis & Clark Law School.  Through clinic participation, students work to provide judges, practicing attorneys, and victim advocates information, research and legal analysis on crime victim laws.  As in past semesters, students worked on a variety of projects, including drafting a persuasive memorandum presenting the best arguments in favor of a victim having the right to full access to the formal accountability agreements, with an identification of what, if any, hurdles there are to overcome; a memorandum analyzing whether a court may close a courtroom to the public during a sentencing hearing to enable a child victim to give a victim impact statement; a state survey and memorandum looking at no contact orders and what state statutes are most protective in an intra-familial situation where custody has not been resolved but one parent is accused of sexual abuse of the child.  The clinic also continued its tradition of including numerous guest speakers and panels related to victims’ rights in the curriculum.  These included, “Oregon Victims’ Rights Practitioners’ Views of Victims’ Rights in Oregon – the good, bad, and ugly of victims’ rights”.  Panelists included Yamhill County Assistant District Attorney Lisl Miller, Yamhill County Victim Advocate Debra Bridges, Victim Attorney Janine Robben, and Public Defender Lane Borg; “A Crime Victim’s Experience with the Criminal Justice System”, panelists included, Multnomah County Victim’ Assistance Program Coordinator Helen O’Brien, Victim Advocate Emily Hyde, and Senior Deputy District Attorney Amy Holmes; a presentation by Brandon Simmons, an attorney with the Utah Crime Victims Legal Clinic, titled “In the Trenches: Representing Crime Victims in Criminal Proceedings”.

© 2011 National Crime Victim Law Institute