The event opens at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium at 4PM with informational booths and a social gathering.  We then will culminate outside at 7:00PM for a candle light walk to City Hall. Speakers who will be in attendance are Senator Eileen Donoghue, Sheriff Peter Koutoujian, State Rep. Dave Nangle and Community VOICES, Laurie Myers and Deputy Superintendent Arthur Ryan.

(Please note: If it rains we will have the vigil at the Auditorium.)

2011 National Crime Victims’ Rights Week will recall the ideals that inspired the decades-long struggle of the victims’ rights movement and challenge all Americans to honor victims’ rights. “This event is in support of all crimes, not just homicides!  If you are a victim of a crime or in support of any victim of a crime please join us in our walk.”  “We will have information booths for anyone seeking help,” said Arnie Muscovitz, Chapter Leader of the Merrimack Valley Chapter of POMC.   Mr. Muscovitz went on to say “This is a great awareness tool and hopefully it would make people more educated and prevent these horrible crimes from happening.”

Only a few decades ago, unfairness, indignities, and disrespect confronted many victims of crime. Victims of Crime in America, the 1984 report of the President’s Task Force on Victims of Crime, described a “hellish” justice system, focused on offenders and indifferent to victims’ needs.
 
In the 25 years since Victims of Crime in America was published, a grassroots movement began to combat such unfairness and launched decades of progress for victims of crime. As of 2010, every state has passed victims’ rights laws, and 32 states have constitutional victims’ rights amendments. All states have victim compensation funds, and more than 10,000 victim assistance programs exist throughout the country. Such changes have made victims participants, rather than bystanders, in the criminal justice system.
 
Yet much work remains. Victims’ rights are not always enforced. Some victims receive no notice when a trial is scheduled or an offender released. Some courts deny victims’ right to be heard at sentencing or to be present at trials, or they fail to order restitution or issue protection orders to keep victims safe. Some victims never learn about victim compensation or receive victim services, an increasing reality during our current economic downturn. Such failures block victims’ access to their rights.
 
Community members are encouraged to join in the week’s activities and get involved in helping victims of crime.   If you are interested or know anyone who wishes to have an information table reserved for this event, please contact Diane Bujnowski in the Mayor’s Office at 978-970-4040 or dbujnowski@lowellma.gov

“Without Arnie Muscovitz and his leadership, the knowledge of how many families locally and nationally who have been impacted with such loss has such a profound effect, says Mayor Jim Milinazzo.