States Beginning with C

California

California Victim Assistance
916-324-9140

California Victim Compensation
916-323-3432

Families & Friends of Murder Victims, Inc
P.O. Box 515
Fairfield CA 94533
(707) 428-3018
Fax (707) 428-1389
In addition to support group meetings, this organization also offers programs such as V.O.I.C.E. ( Victim-Offender Impact of Crime Education), S.T.E.M. (Stop the Exploitation of Murder), and they testify on behalf of appropriate crime bills which would benefit victims and public safety.

Santa Barbara County DA's Victim/Witness Program
115 Civic Center Plaza
Lompoc, CA 93436
(805) 737-7910

Citizens Against Homicide
P.O. Box 2115
San Anselmo, CA 94979
(415) 455-5944 Fax (415) 454-0298

Children of Murdered Parents
P.O. Box 9317
Whittier, CA 90608
(310) 699-8427
Maintains contact with survivors of homicide victims throughout the United States, providing suppport to survivors of all ages. Assists victims by evaluating various sources of therapeutic help and suggesting possible practical referrals.

California does have a constitutional amendment that includes rights for crime victims. It was passed in 1982. This amendment reads as follows:

Victims' Bill of Rights.

(a) The People of the State of California find and declare that the enactment of comprehensive provisions and laws ensuring a bill of rights for victims of crime, including safeguards in the criminal justice system to fully protect those rights, is a matter of grave statewide concern. The rights of victims pervade the criminal justice system, encompassing not only the right to restitution from the wrongdoers for financial losses suffered as a result of criminal acts, but also the more basic expectation that persons who commit felonious acts causing injury to innocent victims will be appropriately detained in custody, tried by the courts, and sufficiently punished so that the public safety is protected and encouraged as a goal of highest importance. Such public safety extends to public primary, elementary, junior high, and senior high school campuses, where students and staff have the right to be same and secure in their persons. To accomplish these goals, broad reforms in the procedural treatment of accused persons and the disposition and sentencing of convicted persons are necessary and proper as deterrents to criminal behavior and to serious disruption of people's lives.

(b) Restitution. It is the unequivocal intention of the People of the State of California that all persons who suffer losses as a result of criminal activity shall have the right to restitution form the persons convicted of the crimes for losses they suffer. Restitution shall be ordered from the convicted persons in every case, regardless of the sentence or disposition imposed, in which a crime victim suffers a loss, unless compelling and extraordinary reasons exist to the contrary. The Legislature shall adopt provisions to implement this section during the calendar year following adoption of this section.

(c) Right to Safe Schools. All students and staff of public primary, elementary, junior high and senior high schools have the inalienable right to attend campuses which are safe, secure and peaceful.

(d) Right to Truth-in-Evidence. Except as provided by statute hereafter enacted by a two-thirds vote of the membership in each house of the Legislature, relevant evidence shall not be excluded in any criminal proceeding, including pretrial and post conviction motions and hearings, or in any trial or hearing of a juvenile for a criminal offenses, whether heard in juvenile or adult court. Nothing in this section shall affect any existing statutory rule of evidence relating to privilege or hearsay, or Evidence Code, Sections 352, 782 or 1103. Nothing in this section shall affect any existing statutory or constitutional right of the press.

(e) Public Safety Bail. A person may be released on bail by sufficient sureties, except for capital crimes when the facts are evident or the presumption great. Excessive bail may not be required. In setting, reducing or denying bail, the judge or magistrate shall take into consideration the protection of the public, the seriousness of the offenses charged, the previous criminal record of the defendant, and the probability of his or her appearing at the trial or hearing of the case. Public safety shall be the primary consideration.

A person may be released on his or her own recognizance in the court's discretion, subject to the same factors considered in setting bail. However, a person charged with the commission of any serious felony shall be released on his or her own recognizance.

Before any person arrested for a serious felony may be released on bail, a hearing may be held before the magistrate or judge, and the prosecuting attorney shall be given notice and reasonable opportunity to be heard on the matter. When a judge or magistrate grants or denies bail or release on a person's own recognizance, the reasons for that decision shall be stated in the record and included in the court's minutes.

Use of Prior Convictions. Any prior felony conviction of any person in any criminal proceeding, whether adult or juvenile, shall subsequently be used without limitation for purposes of impeachment or enhancement of sentence in any criminal proceeding. When a prior felony conviction is an element of any felony offense, it shall be proved to the trier of fact in open court.

As used in this article, the term "serious felony" is any crime defined in Penal Code, Section 1192.7(c).

Colorado

Colorado Victim Assistance
303-239-5703

Colorado Victim Compensation
303-239-4402

Greeley Police Dept. Victims Services
919 7th St.
Greeley, CO 80631
(970) 350-9667

Haffee County Law Enforcement Victims Assistance Unit
PO Box 699
Salida, CO 81201
(719) 539-7969

Colorado does have a constitutional amendment that includes rights for crime victims. It was passed in 1992. This amendment reads as follows:

RIGHTS OF CRIME VICTIMS.

Any person who is a victim of a criminal act, or such person's designee, legal guardian, or surviving immediate family members if such person is deceased, shall have the right to be heard when relevant, informed, and present at all critical stages of the criminal justice process. All terminology, including the term "critical stages", shall be defined by the General Assembly.

Colorado

Colorado Victim Compensation
303-239-4402

Connecticut

Connecticut does have a constitutional amendment that includes rights for crime victims. This amendment reads as follows:

In all criminal prosecutions, a victim, as the General Assembly may define by law, shall have the following rights:

(1) The right to be treated with fairness and respect throughout the criminal justice process;

(2) The right to timely disposition of the case following arrest of the accused, provided no right of the accused is abridged;

(3) The right to be reasonably protected from the accused throughout the criminal justice process;

(4) The right to notification of court proceedings;

(5) the right to attend the trial and all other court proceedings the accused has the right to attend, unless such person is to testify and the court determines that such person's testimony would be materially affected if such person hears other testimony;

(6) The right to communicate with the prosecution;

(7) The right to object to or support any plea agreement entered into by the accused and the prosecution and to make a statement to the court prior to the acceptance by the court of the plea of guilty or nolo contendere by the accused;

(8) The right to make a statement to the court at sentencing;

(9) The right to restitution which shall be enforceable in the same manner as any other cause of action or as otherwise provided by law; and

(10) The right to information about the arrest, conviction, sentence, imprisonment and release of the accused. The General Assembly shall provide by law for the enforcement of this subsection. Nothing in this subsection or in any law enacted pursuant to this subsection shall be construed as creating a basis for vacating a conviction or ground for appellate relief in any criminal case.