opinions of the u.s. supreme court regarding the rights of victims
Victims' rights The modern Crime Victims' Rights Movement began in the 1970s. It began, in part, as a response to the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court Decision in Linda R.S. v. Richard D. (410 U.S. 614). In Linda R.S., the Court ruled that the complainant did not have the legal standing to keep the prosecutors' office from discriminately applying a statute criminalizing non-payment of child support. In dicta, the court articulated the then-prevailing view that a crime victim cannot compel a criminal prosecution because "a private citizen lacks a judicially cognizable interest in the prosecution or non-prosecution of another."[3] This ruling served as a high-water mark in the shift away from the victim-centric approach to criminal justice,[4] making it clear that victims in the 1970s had "no formal legal status beyond that of a witness or piece of evidence."[5]