About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

43 S. Cal. L. Rev. 85 (1970)
Aid to Victims of Violent Crimes in California

handle is hein.journals/scal43 and id is 101 raw text is: AID TO VICTIMS OF VIOLENT CRIMES IN CALIFORNIA WILLARD SHANK* Consideration of the Australian violence victim schemes reveals the inadequacies of the criminal courts as compensating institutions. The history of civil litigation in this area is scarcely more encouraging; even aside from the difficulty of executing a judgment against the typically impecunious criminal, long delays caused by congestion of the civil court calendar make resort to the judicial process an ineffective remedy for most victims of violence. Consequently, most jurisdictions which have enacted compensation statutes have established administrative boards to evaluate claims. The desire to keep the costs of administration low, and at the same time utilize all existing and available expertise, led California to subsume their violence victim compensation program under the auspices of the Welfare Department. The author discusses the difficulty of reconciling victim compensation with the philosophy of welfare. COMPENSATION VERSUS WELFARE The California violence victim compensation program is the progeny of San Francisco Superior Court Judge Francis McCarty. Working within one of the most progressive penal systems in the United States, he became convinced that it was incongruous . . . that the State did so much for criminals . . . and did nothing at all for their victims.' At his instigation remedial legislation was introduced, and in 1965 California became the third governmental entity to undertake a victim compensation program, having been preceded only by New Zealand and England.2 Senate Bill 1057 added section 1500.02 to the Welfare and Institutions Code, and in its original unamended form was a model of legislative simplicity.' As enacted, the bill provided: * Member of the California Bar. A.B. 1946, LL.B. 1949, University of California at Berkeley. I. Letter from Judge Francis McCarty to \Villard Shank, March 3, 1966. 2. HOME OFFICE COMPENSATION FOR VICTIMS OF CRIMES OF VIOLENCE, CMND No. 2323 (1964); Criminal Injuries Compensation Act, 1963, No. 134 of 1963 (N.Z.). For a general summary of the development of compensation prior to and contemporaneous with passage of these first modern bills, see Schafer, Victim Compensation and Responsibility. 43 S. CAL. L. REv. 55-58 & nn. 1-14 (1970). 3. S.B. 1057 (1965), Section 1: Section 1500.02 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read: Aid shall be paid under this chapter, upon application, to the family of any person killed and to

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most