Module 3
Victims' Rights

Right to be Heard

When crime victims have a right to be heard, this means the victim is entitled to speak directly to the court, orally or in writing, during a particular proceeding. This right is most commonly conferred for proceedings related to a defendant’s pre-trial release, regarding a plea agreement, at a sentencing hearing, and/or at a parole proceeding considering the offender’s release. Depending on the jurisdiction, victims may need to take some particular action to initiate this right.

This right to be heard, like other crime victims’ rights, does not make victims a party to the case. It merely entitles victims to provide a personal account of the crime’s impact and/or state their concerns about the potential outcome of the proceeding in order to assist the judge in making a decision. Module 8 will explore some specific instances in which the victim may have the ability to enter the criminal case as a party.

Consult your agency’s state-specific supplemental guide regarding a victim’s right to be heard in your jurisdiction.

Next
Previous

This module will be available to you as soon as you complete Module 1. To complete a module, you must read each of the lessons and complete the review quiz at the end.

It is important to finish Module 1 so that you have sufficient context for the rest of the program. After that, you'll have full access to jump between lessons however works best for you.

Tip: In the left sidebar, you'll notice a vertical bar of squares. Each square represents a lesson in that module. You can see at a glance which lessons you've done (brightly colored) and which ones you have not (gray).

Return to Module 1