Balancing the Scales of Justice: The Case for and the Effects of Utah's Victims' Rights Amendment

For many years the Anglo-American criminal justice system has paid little attention to crime victims and their concerns. Under the prevailing approach, it has been enough for the system to respond to prosecutors and particularly defense attorneys and to hope that crime victims were not dissatisfied with the process. Victims, however, have not been satisfied. Increasingly they have come to believe that the criminal justice system is out of balance, that their voices are not heard, and that the system is preoccupied with defendants' interests and rights.