📧 Communication

This legal document details the Department of Justice's (DOJ) process of interpreting and revising the Crime Victims' Rights Act (CVRA) guidelines between 2010 and 2011. The central issue was the point at which victims' rights become active, with the DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) maintaining that rights only vest after formal criminal charges are filed. This position was challenged in a November 2011 letter by CVRA co-sponsor Senator Jon Kyl, who argued to Attorney General Eric Holder that the DOJ's 2011 revised guidelines conflicted with the law's plain language by not extending rights to victims before charges were filed.