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2.13 MB

Extraction Summary

3
People
4
Organizations
2
Locations
1
Events
2
Relationships
5
Quotes

Document Information

Type: Legal document / law review article excerpt
File Size: 2.13 MB
Summary

This document is page 62 of a legal filing, appearing to be an excerpt from a 2007 Utah Law Review article (likely by Paul Cassell) regarding the Crime Victims' Rights Act (CVRA). It discusses proposed amendments to Federal Rules (specifically Rule 53) to allow closed-circuit transmission of proceedings for victims and critiques the Advisory Committee for failing to adopt these changes. The document bears the name of David Schoen (Epstein's attorney) and a House Oversight Bates stamp, indicating it was part of a document production for a congressional investigation.

People (3)

Name Role Context
David Schoen Document Owner/Associated Name
Name appears centered at the bottom of the document, indicating this file likely came from his records relative to th...
Senator Kyl Senator
Quoted in the text regarding the interpretation of the CVRA provisions on scheduling and delays.
Cassell Author/Source
Cited in footnote 494 ('Cassell, Proposed Amendments'). The first-person narrative ('I proposed') likely refers to Pa...

Organizations (4)

Name Type Context
Advisory Committee
Refers to the committee reviewing federal rules (likely Criminal Procedure), discussed as rejecting or ignoring propo...
President's Task Force on Victims of Crime
Cited as a source for recommendations on stating reasons for continuances.
House Oversight Committee
Implied by the Bates stamp 'HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_017697'.
Utah Law Review
Publisher of the article (2007 Utah L. Rev. 861).

Timeline (1 events)

October 9, 2004
Senator Kyl statement in Congressional Record
US Senate (implied)

Locations (2)

Location Context
Mentioned in the journal title and in footnote 493 citing Utah Code.
Mentioned in footnote 493 citing Ariz. Rev. Stat.

Relationships (2)

David Schoen Investigation Target/Witness House Oversight Committee
Document bears Schoen's name and a House Oversight Bates stamp.
Senator Kyl Legislator/Proponent CVRA
Quoted regarding the legislative intent of the CVRA.

Key Quotes (5)

"My proposed rule closely tracks the language of [*948] the CVRA."
Source
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Quote #1
"This provision [in the CVRA] should be interpreted so that any decision to schedule, reschedule, or continue criminal cases should include victim input through the victim's assertion of the right to be free from unreasonable delay."
Source
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Quote #2
"The Task Force noted 'the inherent human tendency to postpone matters, often for insufficient reason,' and accordingly recommended that 'reasons for any granted continuance ... be clearly stated on the record.'"
Source
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Quote #3
"I proposed that closed-circuit transmission of court proceedings for victims should be authorized..."
Source
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Quote #4
"The Advisory Committee did not act on this proposal for reasons that are unclear..."
Source
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Quote #5

Full Extracted Text

Complete text extracted from the document (3,656 characters)

Page 62 of 78
2007 Utah L. Rev. 861, *947
beyond, the rights created by statute" and that it "adopted the statutory language whenever possible." 488 Yet under the Advisory Committee's proposed changes, victims' speedy trial rights under the CVRA are not incorporated into the Rules.
Victims should have their rights regarding scheduling reflected in the rule dealing with scheduling issues. My proposed rule closely tracks the language of [*948] the CVRA. 489 It does add a provision that victims would be heard on a motion to continue a proceeding. 490 This provision is consistent with the definitive legislative history. As Senator Kyl explained: "This provision [in the CVRA] should be interpreted so that any decision to schedule, reschedule, or continue criminal cases should include victim input through the victim's assertion of the right to be free from unreasonable delay." 491 My proposed rule also requires that the court state its reason for granting any continuance. This requirement stems from a recommendation from the President's Task Force on Victims of Crime. The Task Force noted "the inherent human tendency to postpone matters, often for insufficient reason," and accordingly recommended that "reasons for any granted continuance ... be clearly stated on the record." 492 Several states have adopted similar provisions. 493
Rule 53 - Closed-Circuit Transmission of Proceedings for Victims The Proposals:
I proposed that closed-circuit transmission of court proceedings for victims should be authorized as follows:
Rule 53. Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited
(a) General Rule. Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom.
(b) Closed-Circuit Transmission for Victims. In order to permit victims of crime to watch criminal trial proceedings, the court may authorize closed-circuit televising of the proceedings for viewing by victims or other persons the court determines have a compelling interest in doing so. 494
The Advisory Committee proposed no change to this rule. 495
[*949] Discussion:
I proposed to facilitate a victim's protected right to attend a trial by allowing closed-circuit broadcasting of a trial. The Advisory Committee did not act on this proposal for reasons that are unclear, as it did not include this proposed change in the catalog of my proposals that it was rejecting. 496
Perhaps the Advisory Committee felt that it had sufficiently addressed the subject in its proposed changes to Rule 60. There the Committee simply tracked language in the CVRA and provided that "if the court finds that the number of victims makes it impracticable to accord all of the victims the rights described in subsection (a), the court must fashion a reasonable procedure
________________
488 Proposed Amendments, supra note 71, at 2.
489 See id.
490 Id. at 19.
491 150 Cong. Rec. S10910 (daily ed. Oct. 9, 2004) (statement of Sen. Kyl) (emphasis added).
492 President's Task Force, Final Report, supra note 8, at 76.
493 See, e.g., Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 13-4435(B) (2001) (requiring courts to "state on the record the reason for the continuance"); Utah Code Ann. § 77-38-7(3)(b) (2005) (requiring the court to "enter in the record the specific reason for the continuance and the procedures that have been taken to avoid further delays").
494 Cassell, Proposed Amendments, supra note 4, at 922.
495 Proposed Amendments, supra note 71.
496 CVRA Subcommittee Memo, supra note 66, at 17-20.
DAVID SCHOEN
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_017697

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