Month: April 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice

Remarks as Prepared

Thank you so much, Deputy Attorney General Monaco. I am honored to be here today with you and the Attorney General, and pleased to join my distinguished friends and colleagues from across the Department of Justice.

Congratulations to all of today’s honorees. We stand in awe of your many achievements and are proud to recognize you for the incredible difference you have made in so many lives.

I want to give special thanks to Amy Solomon and Kris Rose for their leadership at the Office of Justice Programs and the Office for Victims of Crime, and for the tremendous work they do every day. They are fortunate to work with teams of talented and committed people, and I am grateful for all they do.

Every April, we set aside one week to mark the progress we have made in affording victims full access to the protections of our criminal legal system. National Crime Victims’ Rights Week is a chance to recognize how far we’ve come: victims today have greater legal protections than ever before. There are now thousands of victims’ rights laws in place across the United States, including in two-thirds of state constitutions.

Our Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) is working hard, in collaboration with victim assistance and compensation administrators across the country, to expand the universe of services available to crime victims. OVC funding now supports thousands of local victim assistance programs and victim compensation programs in every state and territory and right here in D.C. Victims in every corner of our country are getting help from skilled victim service professionals.

But this week is also an opportunity to look to the future and the work still to be done. There are still far too many gaps in availability of services. In particular, we have work to do on access and equity — the challenge of delivering services — quality services — to all victims, in every community.

We know that many victims don’t get the help they need because they don’t know that help exists. And most violent victimizations never even come to the attention of the authorities. Only about 40% of violent victimizations were reported to police in 2020.

Support is especially hard to find in historically marginalized and underserved areas. For many people of color and for members of the LGBTQ+ community, conventional victim services may be less likely to meet their needs, and, in fact, can sometimes operate as a barrier to healing. We can and should do better.

One of President Biden’s first actions in office was to call for a whole-of-government effort to advance equity and support for underserved communities across every sector of our society. That includes our justice system as a whole and its many parts, including victim services. We have taken up the mantle at the Department of Justice.

Last year, I had the privilege of joining Kris and her team as we announced the creation of the National Center for Culturally Responsive Victim Services. The Center provides training and assistance to help victim service organizations expand their capacity to reach marginalized populations as a fundamental part of their mission. We are excited about this initiative. For far too long, communities of color have borne a disproportionate share of the burden of crime in our country. This effort represents an important step in ensuring that all victims, regardless of background or status, can access the services they need and the justice they deserve.

We are also extending our outreach to victims in the LGBTQ+ community. They are more likely than other groups to suffer victimization and less likely to benefit from services that are responsive to their needs. I’m pleased we are stepping in to help bridge this divide. OVC recently released a grant solicitation for updating a toolkit on responding to transgender victims, with a focus on transgender women and girls of color, who face particularly high levels of violence, discrimination, and erasure.

A free and just society requires that all who are victimized by crime can have the support they need to heal and access justice. I am proud to be part of this Justice Department – and of a group of advocates and professionals like all of you – that works so hard every day to turn this aspiration into a reality. I urge all of us to join together as we work to help victims get on the path to healing and honor the dignity of that individual journey.

I applaud each and every one of you for making this your mission. Thank you for all you do.

Kris [Rose], I now turn it back over to you.

Source: United States Department of Justice

Remarks as Prepared

Thank you, Mr. Attorney General. It is an honor to join you, Vanita, Amy [Solomon], Kris [Rose], and the outstanding team in the Office of Justice Programs’ Office for Victims of Crime, as well as our partners and allies from across the country.

Let me add my congratulations and appreciation to all our award recipients. They have set a high bar of commitment and service toward the goal of justice for countless crime victims and survivors of crime. In recognizing these extraordinary individuals and teams, we find the truth in the claim, often attributed to Margaret Mead, that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can, indeed, change the world.

You are managing shelters, operating crisis centers, serving victims in homes and hospitals, and helping victims raise their voices in the courtroom. You have kept your doors – both physical and virtual – open during a global pandemic, when many victims were isolated and vulnerable. You have gone to extraordinary lengths to deliver vital services to survivors in every community. And you have accomplished that most essential of tasks – you have put victims at the center of every conversation about public safety and equal justice.

You have all helped to change the world for victims. Whether a place of comfort, a source of strength, or a necessary resource, you have helped victims to stand up again and move forward as survivors.

Crime and violence continue to touch millions of lives, and the goal of just and fair treatment remains elusive for many. Victims too often feel their rights are ignored, they find avenues of support inaccessible, and they sometimes discover that the services available in one community are missing in their own. The aspirations built into this year’s theme – “Rights, access, equity, for all victims” – remains a promise, not a reality, for far too many.

But you – all of you here today – are working to fulfill that promise, and the department is proud to stand with you to ensure all victims can access justice.  Our nation owes you a debt.

The Biden Administration is proud to support you in this critical work. Last summer, the President signed the VOCA Fix into law, giving us new tools to stabilize the Crime Victims Fund. Fines from deferred prosecutions and non-prosecution agreements can now be channeled into the Fund, rather than going into the general fund of the Treasury. And we are beginning to see the impact of that law. In March alone, this new collection stream brought in almost a quarter-billion dollars. While we don’t see that level of collection every month, I’m hopeful that the flexibility allowed by the VOCA Fix will yield a more consistent source of support in the coming years for VOCA administrators, service providers and – ultimately – victims themselves.

In the meantime, we continue to work hard to deliver critical resources to the field. Last year, our Office for Victims of Crime awarded more than $1.2 billion to states and territories to fund victim assistance and victim compensation programs. Another $40 million went to support sexual assault and elder abuse victims, survivors of human trafficking, LGBTQ+ victims as well as those in historically marginalized and underserved communities. And OVC awarded more than $100 million to reach American Indian and Alaska Native victims through grant funding set aside specifically for tribal communities.

We are very proud of these investments, but we know that the hard work of supporting victims falls most heavily to you on the front lines. You are the ones who translate these financial resources into services. You are the ones putting in the long hours, traveling the great distances, intervening in moments of danger, and standing by victims in their time of greatest need. You are the heroes.

We thank you for all you do, and we commend you for your exceptional service.

It is now my privilege to introduce our final speaker, please join me in welcoming Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta.

Source: United States Department of Justice

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Thank you, Amy [Solomon], for that kind introduction, and for your leadership of the Office of Justice Programs. And thank you to you and your team, Kris [Rose].

We would not be here today without the dedicated professionals of the Office for Victims of Crime and the Office of Justice Programs. You planned today’s event, and you do extraordinary work every day on behalf of the American people. Thank you.

I am happy to be joined today by the Justice Department’s leadership team, Deputy Attorney General Monaco and Associate Attorney General Gupta.

We are all here because we know that our nation’s justice systems could not function without victims’ services providers.

Empowering and encouraging people who have been victimized to participate in our legal system is essential to justice.

Demonstrating to the victims of crimes that we hear them and see them — and earning their trust in our work — is essential to upholding the rule of law.

The theme of this year’s National Crime Victims’ Rights Week is rights, access, and equity. That theme underscores the importance of helping crime survivors find justice by enforcing victims’ rights, expanding access to services, and ensuring equity and inclusion for all.

We are honored to be here to announce the recipients of this year’s National Crime Victims’ Service Awards, and to recognize the recipients of the National Crime Victims’ Services Awards for 2020 and 2021.

These honorees — like the hundreds of other victim advocates and allied professionals here today — are true public servants.

You are there for crime victims at every step of the way.

You provide compassion and care in the immediate aftermath of a tragedy.

You help victims navigate the maze of legal proceedings for months or years on end.

And you support victims long after a case reaches a disposition and lawyers like us leave the courtroom.

This year’s honorees represent many aspects of the victims’ services field.

The honorees include health care professionals who have dedicated themselves to providing the care, support, and compassion that victims of sexual violence deserve.

One of the honorees personally and single-handedly continued in-person services, court accompaniments, and hotline calls to support domestic violence victims when the pandemic hit.

Two of the honorees are themselves survivors of assault, abuse, and exploitation who turned their painful experiences into making a difference in the lives of other victims.

Together, all of these honorees represent the very best of who and what we all strive to be as public servants.

At the Justice Department, we are putting our resources to work to support victim advocates, fund victim assistance programs, and put victims at the center of our efforts to carry out the Department’s mission of upholding the rule of law.

As expressed in the Justice Department’s recent Agency Equity Plan, we are taking Department-wide steps that we hope will improve access to Department services for underserved communities — particularly those disproportionately likely to be victims of crime.

In 2021, our Office for Victims of Crime awarded more than $1 billion to fund victim services. Those include mental health counseling, legal assistance, and victim advocates, enabling over 11,000 victim assistance programs to reach over 10 million survivors. This year, we are continuing that work.

Our Office for Victims of Crime is releasing several new solicitations to expand access to services for those who have been historically underrepresented and underserved.

And across the Department, we are enhancing our capacity to prevent and prosecute human trafficking cases and protect and support human trafficking victims.

The Justice Department worked hard to advance the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which finally occurred earlier this year.

As it has since VAWA was first enacted, our Office on Violence Against Women is using every resource at its disposal to prevent and respond to gender-based violence, provide critical services for survivors, and support victim service providers.

Our budget for the next fiscal year is seeking a total of $1 billion for the Office on Violence Against Women —  an increase of 74% above the FY22 enacted level.

We know that survivors are more likely to seek services from organizations that are familiar with their culture, language, and background. That is why the Office on Violence Against Women is prioritizing and piloting programs for organizations that provide culturally specific and community-based support for survivors.

We are also centering victims in our Tribal justice work. Native American communities have long endured disproportionate rates of violence. In October, the Department launched a steering committee to address the crisis of missing or murdered indigenous people.

The first priority for that steering committee is developing “strategies for supporting victims and their loved ones.”

Whether we are addressing gun violence, combatting fraud and exploitation, or supporting the survivors of sexual assault — victims and their rights are at the center of our efforts.

This commitment to victims also requires an understanding of just how far-reaching the effects of one criminal act can be.   

Hate crimes are an important example. We know that — in addition to the targeted victim — hate crimes inflict terror and fear on entire communities.

That is why the Department is taking a holistic approach to confronting unlawful acts of hate by supporting not only direct victims but entire communities.

A broad and deep understanding of victims’ rights is essential to our ability to carry out the Department’s mission. And without the committed work of crime victims’ service providers, carrying out that mission would be impossible.

All of us in this work understand that the experience of crime victims is often so much more than a single incident or moment in time.

To be a victim of crime can mean a life-altering and sometimes life- shattering experience that endures long after the crime is over.

Last week marked the 27th anniversary of the day a domestic terrorist bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, taking the lives of 168 people, including 19 children, and seriously injuring hundreds of others.

As the Justice Department’s lead prosecutor on that case, I arrived at the scene 48 hours after the bombing.

Broken glass and crumbled bricks were everywhere.

The front of the building had collapsed and fallen into a crater.

An army of first responders was sifting through the rubble for survivors and the dead. And everyone was crying.

The prosecutors met with family members and survivors. We listening to their concerns. We held frequent briefings to keep everyone updated. We went to the memorial service together.

We treated them as we would have wanted our own families to be treated.

And that is really at the core of what all of you do: you treat people the way you would want someone you love to be treated if something terrible happened to them.

You do this when tragedy strikes an entire community. And you do this when tragedy strikes individuals.

You help people and communities endure unimaginable loss and heal from unspeakable harm. You do this despite the exceptionally long days and the emergency calls in the middle of the night.

You are nothing short of heroic. I am in awe of you.

Thank you for being with us today. I will now turn the program over to Deputy Attorney General Monaco.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

The Justice Department today filed a complaint challenging a recently enacted Alabama law, Senate Bill (S.B.) 184, that denies necessary medical care to children based solely on who they are, and that threatens criminal prosecution and jail time to doctors, parents, and anyone else who provides or “causes” that care. The United States’ complaint alleges that the new law’s felony ban on providing certain medically necessary care to transgender minors violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. The department is also asking the court to issue an immediate order to prevent the law from going into effect.

S.B. 184 makes it a felony for any person to “engage in or cause” specified types of medical care for transgender minors. S.B. 184 thus discriminates against transgender youth by denying them access to certain forms of medically necessary care. It further discriminates against transgender youth by barring them from accessing particular procedures while allowing non-transgender minors to access the same or similar procedures. The penalties for violating the law include up to 10 years of imprisonment and a fine of up to $15,000. S.B. 184 would force parents of transgender minors, medical professionals, and others to choose between forgoing medically necessary procedures and treatments, or facing criminal prosecution. The United States’ complaint alleges that S.B. 184 violates the Equal Protection Clause by discriminating on the basis of sex and transgender status.

Today’s filing is the latest action by the Justice Department to combat discrimination based on gender identity, including unlawful restrictions on medical care for transgender youth. On March 31, 2022, the Civil Rights Division issued a letter to all state attorneys general reminding them of federal constitutional and statutory provisions that protect transgender youth against discrimination.

The complaint in intervention is being handled by Deputy Chief Coty Montag and Trial Attorneys Alyssa Lareau, Kaitlin Toyama, and Renee Williams of the Civil Rights Division’s Federal Coordination and Compliance Section; John Powers, Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights; Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Cheek for the Northern District of Alabama; and Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Wadsworth for the Middle District of Alabama.

Additional information about the Civil Rights Division’s work to uphold and protect the civil and constitutional rights of LGBTQI+ individuals is available on its website at https://www.justice.gov/crt/lgbtqi-working-group. Complaints about discriminatory practices may be reported to the Civil Rights Division through its internet reporting portal at https://civilrights.justice.gov.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, joined by Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco and Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, today recognized 14 individuals, organizations, and teams for their advocacy on behalf of victims of crime. The award recipients were honored during the annual National Crime Victims’ Service Awards Ceremony.

“Empowering and encouraging people who have been victimized to participate in our legal system is essential to justice,” said Attorney General Garland. “For the past 41 years, the Department of Justice has recognized the challenges, struggles, and achievements of crime victims and victim advocates in their efforts to secure the rights, access, and equal justice that all survivors deserve. I am pleased to congratulate this year’s honorees on their selection for these distinguished awards and extend my deepest gratitude for their continued work.”

The awardees were selected from public nominations in multiple categories, including federal service, public policy, victim services, and a Special Courage award. The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), a component of the Department’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP), leads communities across the country in observing National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. President Ronald Reagan proclaimed the first Victims’ Rights Week in 1981, placing crime victims’ rights, needs and concerns in prominence on the American agenda.

President Reagan also established the President’s Task Force on Victims of Crime, which laid the groundwork for a national network of services and legal safeguards for crime victims. This year is the 40th anniversary of the Task Force’s Final Report and marks 50 years since the establishment of the first three victim assistance organizations — Bay Area Women Against Rape in Oakland, California; the D.C. Rape Crisis Center in Washington, D.C.; and Aid for Victims of Crime (now the Crime Victim Advocacy Center) in St. Louis, Missouri. The creation of these organizations, all of which still exist today, is considered to be the genesis of the crime victims’ movement in the United States.

The 41st observance of NCVRW takes place this year, April 24-30, and features the theme, “Rights, Access, Equity, for All Victims.”

“This time every year, we honor and remember victims of crime, not only for the trauma that they have endured and the adversity they have encountered, but also for their courage and resilience and for paving the way toward justice and healing for countless other survivors across the country,” said OJP Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Amy L. Solomon. “These extraordinary individuals and teams embody an ethic of service and compassion that distinguishes them from an already exceptional field of victim-serving professionals. We join the Attorney General in expressing our deepest appreciation for providing crime victims — all crime victims — a place to turn in their time of need.”

Following is a list of the 2022 NCVRW award recipients:

• The Allied Professional Award recognizes individuals working outside the victim assistance field for their service to victims.
  • Recipients:  Deborah Flowers, Pittsboro, North Carolina, and Dr. Linda Laras, Caguas, Puerto Rico.

• The Award for Professional Innovation in Victim Services recognizes a program, organization or individual who expands the reach of victims’ rights and services.
  • Recipients: Barrier Free Living, Bronx, New York, and LGBTQ+ Victim Advocacy Initiative at Eskenazi Health, Indianapolis, Indiana.

• The Financial Restoration Award recognizes individuals, programs, organizations, or teams that have instituted innovative approaches for securing financial restoration for crime victims.
  • Recipient: Asset Forfeiture Unit and Financial Litigation Program in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee, Nashville.

• The Victims Research Award recognizes individual researchers or research teams who made a significant contribution to the nation’s understanding of crime victim issues.
  • Recipient: John Chapin, Ph.D., Monaca, Pennsylvania.

• The Crime Victims’ Rights Award honors the dedicated champions throughout our nation whose efforts to advance or enforce crime victims’ rights have benefited victims of crime at the state, Tribal, or national level.
  • Recipient: Derek Marchman, Conyers, Georgia.

• The Federal Service Award recognizes federal agency personnel for service to victims of federal, Tribal, or military crimes.
  • Recipient: Environmental Crime Victim Assistance Team, Washington, D.C.

• The National Crime Victim Service Award honors extraordinary efforts to provide direct services to crime victims.
  • Recipient: Brenda J. Muhammad, Atlanta, Georgia and Michelle L. Shae, Abbottstown, Pennsylvania.
• The Ronald Wilson Reagan Public Policy Award honors leadership, innovation, and vision that lead to noteworthy changes in public policy on behalf of crime victims.
  • Recipient: The Every Voice Coalition, Boston, Massachusetts.

• The Special Courage Award honors extraordinary bravery in the aftermath of a crime or courageous act on behalf of a victim or potential victim.
  • Recipients: Gail Frances Gardner, Ocoee, Florida and Suamhirs Piraino-Guzman, Seattle, Washington.

• The Volunteer for Victims Award recognizes individuals who serve without compensation.
  • Recipient: Linda Stambaugh, Newell, South Dakota.

“The Office for Victims of Crime works every day to support victims in every corner of our country, ensuring that no crime survivor feels voiceless, marginalized, or alone,” said OVC Director Kristina Rose. “Through their tireless work, boundless capacity for empathy, and fierce devotion to justice, these award recipients have made it possible for victims to find their voice and to begin, with a feeling of hope, the long journey toward healing.”

During National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, victim advocacy organizations, community groups and state, local, and Tribal agencies traditionally host rallies, candlelight vigils, and other events to raise awareness of victims’ rights and services. This year, many communities are organizing virtual gatherings and online public awareness campaigns.

To learn more about past NCVRW recipients, visit the OVC Gallery.

The Office of Justice Programs provides federal leadership, grants, training, technical assistance, and other resources to improve the nation’s capacity to prevent and reduce crime, advance racial equity in the administration of justice, assist victims, and enhance the rule of law. More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.