Question

Using the library or Google Scholar, find an article that discusses reimbursement for crime victims.

Discuss your thoughts either pro or con and present the legal concerns in collecting funds to reimburse crime victims.  

Your response should be a minimum of two pages

Answer 1

Crime victim compensation is a government program to reimburse victims of violent crimes- such as assault, homicide, rape, and, in some states, burglary - as well as their families for many of their out-of-pocket expenses. Every state has a crime victim compensation program. Crime victim compensation programs will generally pay for:

• medical and dental expenses,
• counselling costs,
• funeral or burial expenses, and
• Lost wages or support.

In Texas, there is law that governs cases of applications involving extraordinary pecuniary losses resulting in a total and permanent disability, the victim may be eligible for additional benefits for:

• making a home or car accessible
• job training and vocational rehabilitation
• training in the use of special appliances
• home health care
• reimbursement of loss of wages

In my opinion, it is advisable that states should invest their funds in compensating the crime victims in order to provide assurance to them and their families by compensating at least financially for the sufferings. The legal concerns such as faking of a crime scene in order to achieve benefits are something that can be taken care of by providing an extra vigilant eye to avoid the same. Extra funding and investing in order to hire investigators of a crime scene who have the sufficient knowledge and experience to understand its dynamics may be helpful to facilitate this. Moreover, this instils a fear in people who desire to misuse the state laws for their personal use.