A New Week - Crime Victims Deserve Support
Another week starts with a new focus - crime victims. I am drafting a complaint in a case for a victim of a terrible crime. She is young, and hurt and humiliated, and she is deserving of the very best chance at a future she can possibly have. Our lawsuit may be that chance. Crime victims are so frequently scarred emotionally and physically, and their ability to recover for their damages is almost always limited because the perpetrators so seldom have any money or property. You see the problem with this system is simple - justice only comes in dollars on the civil side. Great liability and huge damages will not result in any justice unless the defendant has something you can grab. There is that great line from To Kill A Mockingbird (I think!): "Whatta' ya' got? Give it ta' me!" And that's my plan - take it all away from the guy who hurt her. I probably won't be able to get it all - but this time - we are gonna' try. Victims like my client have huge problems in their futures. They have problems trusting men and women in whom they would otherwise place trust. They suck at relationships. They do not complete what they start - like education and jobs. And they have trouble parenting their own kids. In general, they are left in a state of fear, self doubt and confusion. So how can the system help? Simple - give them the money they will need to get counseling, training, and education. Compensate them for the lost earnings and opportunities that they will miss because of the crimes perpetrated against them. Money. There is nothing else on the civil side - and with the likely criminal outcome resulting in the perp spending a long term at a state warehouse - or penitentiary - he won't need that money as badly as the little girl whose life he so easily stole. Wierd post for a criminal defense lawyer? Yeah - I suppose, but most of us in the criminal court system are focussed on justice. Somedays justice takes a bite out of a guy like this. Those tooth marks on his butt - those will be mine. Complaint to follow.
