FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE :    Tuesday, April 24, 2012   
CONTACT:    Sara Rabern,  (605) 773-3215 

 

South Dakota Attorney General’s Office Joins National Crime Victims’ Rights Week Observance

 
PIERRE, S.D.  –  Attorney General Marty Jackley would like to remind South Dakotans that this week has been set aside to remember victims of crime. National Crime Victims’ Rights Week is a time to honor crime victims and our nation’s progress in advancing their rights.

This year’s theme—Extending the Vision: Reaching Every Victim—celebrates the vision behind that progress and the ideal of serving all victims of crime. The vision that launched the victims’ rights movement emerged more than 30 years ago. Then—as now—crime victims endured physical and emotional wounds, costly financial burdens, an often hostile criminal justice system, and an alarming public tendency to blame them for the crimes against them.  Since the 1980s, the nation has made dramatic progress in securing rights, protections, and services for victims of crime.

Attorney General Jackley will be part of a panel discussion on victims’ rights on Wednesday, April 25, at the Rushmore Plaza Holiday Inn, Rapid City, 1:30 to 3:30 pm (MST). This event is sponsored by Working Against Violence, Inc.

For additional information about national resources available to help crime victims, visit the website developed by the National Center for Victims of Crime www.ncvc.org. The Attorney General’s Victim Witness Program provides victim services in rural areas in South Dakota and for more information about this program visit  http://dci.sd.gov/.
 

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