NCJ Number
95913
Editor(s)
P B McGuigan,
T L Donovan
Date Published
1984
Length
16 pages
Annotation
A transcript is provided of a conference session which focuses on efforts by criminal justice activists to reform the criminal justice system in a positive and constructive way.
Abstract
The formation of the Stephanie Roper Committee is traced to the efforts of parents whose daughter was kidnapped, raped, tortured, and shot to death. The community rallied around the Ropers because the system failed to adequately punish the offenders, failed to protect its law-abiding citizens, and failed to value an innocent life. The Commitee's original membership of 50 swelled to include 7,500 members in Maryland. That the Committee's efforts are not the response to an aberration is emphasized. In the year since its inception, the Committee has prefiled bills in Annapolis; conducted a massive petitioning campaign in which 93,000 signatures were collected and presented to Maryland legislators; and had 3 bills passed by the Maryland Assembly. The need for citizens to demand accountability from those whom they have placed in office is highlighted, and attention is focused on victim's rights litigation, particularly against third parties whose negligence caused the victimization. The Washington Legal Foundation, a national public interest law center, is discussed, as is its representation of victims in crime victim litigation cases. It is argued that judges must do their jobs, and that if judges were accountable for their that if judges were accountable for their sentences, the need for judicial reform would be eliminated.