Module 3
Victims' Rights

Victim Impact Statements

A victim impact statement is a statement by a crime victim detailing how their life has been affected by the crime. Every state and the federal CVRA provides crime victims the right to deliver victim impact statements at sentencing and/or parole proceedings. These statements can be made during sentencing in several ways:

  • orally in court by the victim
  • written by the victim and read aloud in court by the prosecutor
  • written by the victim and provided to the court to read or place in the court file.

During parole proceedings, some states provide alternative ways for victims to provide impact statements, such as through a teleconferencing system or an interview-style meeting with parole officials prior to the hearing so there is no face-to-face encounter with the perpetrator.

Themes generally permissible for victim impact statements are:

  • facts of the crime (if permitted in the jurisdiction)
  • emotional and psychological harm caused by the perpetrator’s actions
  • physical injury resulting from the crime
  • financial loss incurred by the victim as a result of the crime
  • the victim’s opinion on the appropriate sentence for the offender (if permitted in the jurisdiction).

Victims are never required to give a victim impact statement. Some victims do not wish to face the defendant in person or bare the private details of their trauma in open court. For that reason there are several ways the victim impact statement can be made some of which do not require the victim to appear in court in person, as noted above. When victims do choose to make such a statement it is part of the record upon which the judge or parole board can rely when making sentencing/parole release decisions. These statements can be powerful in providing the decision-maker (judge, parole board) insight into the trauma experienced by the victim. Some victims find this process therapeutic and feel they regain a sense of control by delivering their statement. The victim impact statement is generally a time in which victims can freely express the impact a sexual assault has had on their lives without worrying about abiding by the rules of evidence. While many states do not permit a defendant to cross-examine victims during their victim impact statement, defendants are often entitled to refute factual elements of the statement after it is given.

It is important for victims to understand that these statements will not be private. The victim impact statement will become part of the official record in the case and will be incorporated into the physical case file, the minutes of the proceeding, and/or observed in open court. In some jurisdictions, the victim impact statement provided at sentencing will automatically become part of the file for parole proceedings at the end of the defendant’s incarceratory sentence. Because those proceedings can take place a considerable time after the sentencing and original statement, in these instances the victim may choose to provide an updated impact statement at the time of parole proceedings, detailing the lasting harm since the original impact statement.

Several aspects of victim impact statements are jurisdiction-specific, such as when they are permitted, in what form, and whether a defendant may cross-examine victims during their statements.1 Consult your agency’s state-specific supplemental guide regarding the law and local practice regarding victim impact statements in your jurisdiction.

Disclaimers and Footnotes

1. The National Crime Victim Law Institute has a compilation of state laws regarding victim impact statements available at https://law.lclark.edu/live/files/12746-national-survey-of-state-victim-impact-statement.

*Reprinted, reproduced and/or shared with permission of the National Crime Victim Law Institute (NCVLI), all rights reserved. NCVLI actively promotes balance and fairness in the justice system through crime victim centered legal advocacy, education, and resource sharing. To view NCVLI's library of crime victims' rights publications and other resources, please visit http://www.ncvli.org/.

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