THE PREJUDICIAL NATURE OF VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENTS Implications for Capital Sentencing Policy
نویسندگان
چکیده
Victim impact evidence is presented during sentencing hearings to convey the harm experienced by victims and victims’ relatives as a result of a crime. Its use in capital cases is highly controversial. Some argue that the Supreme Court’s decision to allow the admission of victim impact statements (VIS) during capital sentencing proceedings (Payne v. Tennessee, 1991) invites prejudice and judgments based on emotion rather than reason. Others reason that it provides an important voice for survivors and affords the jury an opportunity to learn about the victim. The authors outline the chief psychological issues that arise in the context of VIS, including their relevance to jurors’ judgments of blameworthiness, concerns that the social worth of the victim will influence jurors’ sentencing decisions, and issues related to the emotional appeal of VIS. Psycholegal research on the influence of VIS on mock jurors is reviewed, and implications of this work for capital sentencing policy and suggested directions for future research are discussed.
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Victim Impact Statements in South Australia
Impact Statements (VIS). The new law which took effect in January 1989 requires that VIS material be put before the court by prosecutors so as to inform the judge of any physical or mental harm, any loss or damage to property suffered by a victim as a result of a crime. This article presents the results of evaluation studies of VIS in South Australia and their implications for the role of victi...
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