All three of Marie Armstrong’s sons have been victims of drunk driving, and only one lived to tell about it.
When her son Chance died in a three-car pileup, Armstrong found no answers or comfort in the criminal justice system. No one involved in the crash was convicted for a long time, and when the courts finally sentenced someone, the initial sentence was only 90 days.
“Victims want answers. They want to know how, why and who is going to jail,” Armstrong said.
In an effort to give victims a stronger voice in criminal law proceedings, Armstrong became the victim advocate for Mothers Against Drunk Driving. She regularly talks about her experiences at MADD events to reach out to the community.
On Wednesday night, she was a guest speaker at the first annual Crime Victims’ Rights Week Lane County Candlelight Vigil.
Lori Silano, the director of Victim Services for the Lane County District Attorney’s Office, said she organized the event jointly with other counties in Oregon.
“There’s a vigil being held in every county statewide tonight,” Silano said.
This year’s theme was “Justice for Victims. Justice for All.” The theme intended to show people that supporting victim rights is in the best interest of the public.
“We can acknowledge that crime affects everyone,” Silano said. “Crime can strike anyone. The impact of crime leaves family, friends, coworkers and entire communities less secure.”
The support of about 40 people showed at the courthouse Wednesday night would not have existed in decades past. In the 1970s, when Lane County District Attorney Doug Harcleroad began working at the courthouse, “what we did about victims’ rights was zero – that operation (Victim Services) was nonexistent.”
In 1985, the DA’s office created the program, but it only included one employee.
Things have steadily been looking better for crime victims. In 1999, Oregon legislators approved a Crime Victims’ Bill of Rights, but it hasn’t been enforced. Two new state ballot measures, 51 and 52, would give crime victims the rights outlined in the bill of rights, which would be a step “closer to achieving the ideal of justice for all,” said Silano.
Thirty-three states have already amended their constitutions to protect the rights these measures aim to bring to Oregonians, Silano said.
Erin Kevin, the volunteer coordinator in Victim Services, read two anonymous crime victims’ accounts to humanize the issue. One account was from a female Arab student at the University who had been a victim of bias. A white man who overheard her speaking in Arabic punched her in the back of her head, and for months, she suffered from internal bleeding, constant nausea and the inability to sit down for any length of time. She had to drop out of school for a term, which threw off her future career plan.
The result of the man’s bias “has affected me emotionally and socially,” Kevin read from the account. “I just don’t feel safe anymore.”
State Sen. Vicki Walker (D-Eugene), who also spoke at the event, said she was a crime victim in her childhood.
“My mother was beaten nearly every day,” Walker said. “She had no place to go.”
Walker’s experiences made it easier for her to understand what crime victims feel and why their voices should be heard in the criminal justice system.
“They don’t want retribution,” Walker said. “They want people to know how crime has impacted their life on a daily basis. … It helps victims close the gap and feel justice.”
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