Victim Statements: Impact Of The Crime

Victim Statements Name Institution Victim Statements One argument against allowing victim statement being heard in court before sentencing is that they violate the Eighth Amendment that prohibits against cruel and unusual punishment (Dick, 2016). This is because when ruling on a crime, the jury or judge should rule based on the crime committed and not on the impact of the crime on the victim. The victim statement influence the judgement such that it is based on sentiments as opposed to focusing on the facts of crime as presented in court (Richards, 1992). The other argument against victim impact statement is based on how the victim presents him/herself. For example, in a situation where the victim gives an account of the crime but fails to give an emotional or convincing account, this could have negative consequences. For example, the jury or the court may not feel sympathy for the victims and this may affect the sentencing (Richards, 1992). The argument in favor of victim statements is that they allow the judge or the jurors to understand how the crime impacted the victims either psychologically, emotionally, physical...