If you have issues viewing or accessing this file contact us at NCJRS.gov. S. HRG.98-4~ IMPACT OF CRIME ON THE ELDERLY ~M¢.{ ~ HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON AGING OF THE COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND HUMAN RESOURCES UNITED STATES SENATE NINETY-EIGHTH CONGRESS F~TSESSION ON EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF CRIME ON THE ELDERLY, FOCUSING ON FEDERAL ASSISTANCE TO HELP STATES COMPENSATE VICTIMS OF CRIME, AND TO REVIEW IMPLEMENTATION OF THE VICTIM AND WIT- NESS PROTECTION ACT OF 1982 (PUBLIC LAW 97-291) JUNE 28, 1983 4 ¼ C'- =V © Printed for the use of the Committee on Labor and Human Resources "D" U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 24-906 O WASHINGTON : 1984 COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND HUMAN RESOURCES ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah, Chairman ROBERT T. STAFFORD, Vermont EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts DAN QUAYLE, Indiana JENNINGS RANDOLPH, West Virginia DON NICKLES, Oklahoma CLAIBORNE PELL, Rhode Island GORDON J. HUMPHREY, New Hampshire THOMAS F. EAGLETON, Missouri JEREMIAH DENTON, Alabama DONALD W. RIEGLE, JR., Michigan LOWELL P. WEICKER, JR., Connecticut HOWARD M. METZENBAUM, Ohio CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, Iowa SPARK M. MATSUNAGA, Hawaii JOHN P. EAST, North Carolina. CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, Connecticut PAULA HAWKINS, Florida RONALD F. DOCKSAI, Staff Director KATHRYN O'L. HIGGINS, Minority Staff Di~ctor SUBCOMMITTEE ON AGING CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, Iowa, Chairman PAULA HAWKINS, Florida THOMAS F. EAGLETON, Missouri GORDON J. HUMPHREY, New Hampshire CLAIBORNE PELL, Rhode Island JEREMIAH DENTON, Alabama HOVTARD M. METZENBAUM, Ohio ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts (Ex Officio) - (Ex Officio) JAM~ B. CONROV, Professional Staff Member MARCIA McCORD VFJRVlIJ~, Minority Professional Staff Member (II) CONTENTS STATEMENTS TUESDAY, JUNE 28, 1983 Page American Bar Association,prepared statement ........................................................46 Hawkins, Hon. Paula, a U.S. Senator from the State of Florida, prepared statement ................................................................................................. Heinz, Hon. John, a U.S. Senator from the State "of Pennsylv~ia, prepar~ 123 statement .............................................................. .. Y~'(~oiS, Daniel, assistant director,Center for CrhLn'in~'J~tic'e'['H~m:ci"I_~w 3 ~..o~,;ool, preparea suatement ........................................................................................58~ P~lhps, Douglas E., American Bar Association, Committee on Victims Sec- tion of Criminal Justice, and Daniel McGillis, assistant director, Center for Criminal Justice, Harvard Law School, a panel ....................................................32 Prepared statement (with responses to questions)............................................. 36 ~,haffner, John T., legislative liaison, Iowa Department of Public Safety, ! preparea sua~emen~ ......................................................................................................10B ~in( John, direc~r of public affairs, National Organization for Victims ~IsS~Susm~Uice,ana .tieorge Sunderland, senior program coordinator for crimi- ne~.J stme, American .~ssoclationof Retired Persons, a panel ...............~........... L_r'repared statement ....................................................................... ~39~ Ste]Yhens, Jay, Deputy Associate Attorney General, Department "of'Justicel a~ompani?d by Lois Haight Herrington, Assistant Attorney.General ............ L.a-repareastatement ...........................................................~.~(~.~..~.. ...................... 11~ Sunderland, George, senior program coordinator for criminal justice, Ameri- Z c.anAssociation of Retired Persons, prepared statement .....................................155 welbel, Ronald, chairman, New York State crime victims board, and presi- dent, National Association of Crime Victim Compensation Boards, and John TP~rrehaffner, legislat!ve liaison, Iowa Department of Public Safety, a panel .. parea s~atemen~ .................................................................................................981~ ADDITIONAL MATERIAL Articles, publications,etc.: If Crime Strikes, from State of Iowa Crime Victim's Reparation ................... 127 Questions and answers: Responses of LoIS Haight Herrington, to question posed by Senator Grass- ley ............................................................................................................................28 (III) ± :.%~.' ,e ~\ ~ .,~ °. IMPACT OF CRIME ON THE ELDERLY TUESDAY, JUNE 28, 1983 U,S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AGING, COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND HUMAN RESOURCES, Washington, D. C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, in room SD-430, Dirksen Senate Office Building, commencing at 10:06 a.m., Senator Charles E. Grassley (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Senators Grassley and Hawkins. OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR GRASSLEY Senator GRASSLEY. I will call the meeting and this hearing of the Subcommittee on Aging to order. I have a short statement before we call the witnesses. I want to thank everybody for participating. As we all know, crime can strike anyone but most frequently it affects the poor, the young, the very old, and residents of the inner cities--precisely those persons who are least able to protect them- selves. We are ever mindful of the serious toll that crime is exact- ing in our communities and we cannot turn away from that prob- lem. The idea that a society should aid those who are victimized by crime is not new. Dated 2038 B.C., the Babylonian Code of Hammu- rabi, provided that when a person was robbed or murdered, he or she or the heirs, were entitled to compensation for their losses. But today's system has lost touch with this commonsense notion through its legalistic insistence on separating civil and criminal remedies. We punish criminals--sometimes--but we leave the victim to his own devices in seeking tort compensation. We squire a suspect through the process: Provide a free lawyer, food and housing, physical and psychiatric treatment, job training, support for the family, counsel on appeal. But the victim often gets no help--and even worse, is victimized again by an insensitive judi- cial system which demands his or her full-time participation for the minor comfort of a conviction. On April 15, 1982, President Reagan assembled a task force to find out why our system treats victims so dismally. The ffmal report of the President's Task Force on Victims of Crime was re- leased last December. By combining discussions with law-abiding citizens whose lives have been shattered by lawlessness, the task force has produced an Outstanding resource on this subject. The report outlines an agenda for governmental and organiza- tional action to alleviate the suffering of those afflicted by crime. (1) 2 For example, the report illustrates the physical consequences unique to older victims. One elderly victim testified and I quote: I am a senior citizen but I never considered myself old. I was active. I was inde- pendent. Now I live in a nursing home and sit in a wheelchair. The day I was mugged was the day I began to die. If the victim is lucky, the perpetrator of the crime may receive a sentence. But as this example aptly illustrates, the victim may be sentenced to a lifelong ordeal of pain. Gradually our perception of the criminal justice system has been changing. In the last Congress, for example, we finally recognized that all too often the victim of a serious crime is forced to suffer physical, psychological, or irmancial hardship, first as a result of the criminal act and then as a result of contact with a criminal jus- tice system that calls it a day after the case is dismissed or the criminal is put away. The Victim and Witness Protection Act of 1982 provides a ray of optimism in the Federal criminal system. Restitution is required for the first time. There may be revocation of bail in certain cir- cumstances-another first. Victim impact statements are required. This means that prior to sentencing the judge will know the finan- cial, medical, social, and psychological effects of the victim prior to sentencing. While these steps are marked improvements, it goes without saying that we have much yet to accomplish. Today's hearing will hopefully build on the outstanding founda- tion laid by the President's task force, assessing where we are in terms of victim assistance and in which directions'we should advis- edly move. We have an outstanding array of witnesses and I look forward to hearing from them. We will proceed according to the order printed, with the excep- tion of Senator Heinz, who right now [and I just came from that meeting because I am also a member of the Select Committee on Aging] is holding a hearing on the efficacy of drugs and the over- use of drugs by senior citizens. He will likely have to come in late to testify before my subcommittee, and I told him that we would interrupt whoever was testifying so that he would not be away from his own committee for too long of a period of time. With that in mind, I will skip Senator Heinz momentarily and go to Jay Stephens, who is originally from my State of Iowa and came to Washington to take his present position. Lois Haight Herrington will testify as well. I am acquainted with Mr. Stephens because his father was in the State legislature when I was in the State legisla- ture and had an opportunity to know the family for a long time. Jay Stephens is Deputy Associate Attorney General of the U.S. De- partment of Justice, a native of my own State, as I said. Following his assignment as Assistant