The Virginian-Pilot
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Thursday, December 15, 1994            TAG: 9412150365
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B7   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: RICHMOND                           LENGTH: Medium:   61 lines

VICTIM-ADVOCATES URGE VA. LEGISLATURE TO ADOPT ``BILL OF RIGHTS'' PROTECTION

Virginia is one of the weakest states in the country on legislation that protects crime victims, an advocate told a House of Delegates subcommittee studying a proposed victims' rights bill Wednesday.

David Beatty, director of public policy for the nonprofit National Victim Center in Arlington, urged state legislators to push for the Crime Victim and Witness Rights Act during the upcoming General Assembly session.

The bill's provisions include notifying victims or witnesses when prisoners are released, forcing more criminals to pay at least partial restitution to victims for any property damage or loss caused by the crime, and setting up special waiting areas in courthouses that separate victims and their alleged attackers.

Forty-four other states have similar ``bills of rights'' for victims, Beatty said. Only Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana and Maine join Virginia in the bottom group.

``I don't think anyone would disagree with the fact that Virginia is lagging behind the majority of states,'' Beatty said at a meeting of the House Courts of Justice special subcommittee studying the legislation.

Beatty and another speaker, William Van Regenmorter, a state senator from Michigan who helped pass a victims' rights act in 1985, praised the subcommittee's efforts but suggested that legislators make some changes to the bill.

Beatty said the current draft allows victims the right to attend defendants' trials but could be strengthened by permitting them also to attend bail hearings and plea-bargain meetings.

Van Regenmorter, a Republican, praised Virginia's efforts, but he said the bill contained some vague wording. He said the bill should better define a ``victim'' because some perpetrators who attack family members could be considered grieving victims under the current draft.

Victims' advocates also said they were concerned about funding for the package.

Funding would run about $3.8 million annually for the package, said Mandie Patterson, chief of victims services for the Department of Criminal Justice Services.

Subcommittee member Del. Howard Copeland said legislation is being carried over from last session that would raise about $2.4 million annually for the package by charging defendants $2 in each criminal and traffic case.

Some people might argue that the $2 is a burden and should not be imposed uniformly on defendants, but ``how burdensome can it be compared to the burden on a victim? . . . $2 ought to be minuscule,'' said Copeland, a Norfolk Democrat.

Lee-Hope Thrasher, director of the victims and witnesses program for Virginia Beach, said the General Assembly must pass the funding initiative if it wants the victims package to work properly.

She said staffing for victims programs often is inadequate and some initiatives, such as notifying victims and witnesses when criminals are released from prison, often take a lot of legwork and resources. by CNB