Victim of a Crime?
Have you ever been a victim of a crime? If so, you understand the many feelings associated with being a victim. Circle Sentencing can help you express those feelings and hold offenders accountable for the crime that has been committed. Crime wounds…justice should be healing. Joining a circle in your community will allow you as a victim to gain healing and closure, tell your offender how you feel, receive support from your community and have a say in how the harm should be repaired.
Victim Notification & Participation
Throughout the entire Circle process, the victim may choose to participate. Participation in Circle is completely voluntary. When a case is identified for potential application to the Circle process, the victim will be notified by the program coordinator or other members of the circle. If the victim indicates interest in participating in the Circle process, they will meet with the coordinator for more in-depth information on the program.
If the community accepts the offender’s application into the program, the victim may choose to participate in any one or more of the following ways:
· The victim may attend the Sentencing Circle to give input in the Sentencing Compact. The victim should always have at least one or two people attend a Sentencing Circle with them for support. These support persons can be family, friends, or volunteers from the community.
· The victim may choose to not attend the Sentencing Circle, but have one or more friends or family members attend as their representative to advocate for their needs.
· The victim may choose to not attend the Sentencing Circle, but have a volunteer from the community who is involved in the Circle Program attend the Sentencing Circle as their representative, as long as there is a volunteer available from the community to act in this role.*
· The victim may provide their concerns in writing to the coordinator or a community member to be read aloud at the Sentencing Circle.
· The victim may discuss their concerns with the coordinator and/or community members involved with the Circle at any time during the Circle process.
· The victim may choose to have a Healing Circle as well as participate in the Sentencing Circle. The victim would make the request for a Healing Circle to the Circle.
*Victims will be asked to sign a form if they wish to be contacted by a Community Volunteer.
Benefits to participation for Victims
The victim is able to:
1. Speak directly with the offender about how the crime has affected them.
2. Directly ask questions of the offender, which would not be an option in the traditional court process.
3. Have a direct say in the offender’s sentence.
4. Begin healing from the crime.
5. Gain support from fellow community members.
6. Gain reassurance that the victim is not responsible for what happened to them.
7. Request reimbursement and/or restitution from the offender.