Booth v. Maryland

According to a study cited by the National Victim Center, 66 percent of crime victims described themselves as "satisfied with the criminal justice system" if they were given the opportunity to present a written victim impact statement (VIS) in court. By contrast, only 25 percent identified themselves as satisfied if they were not given the opportunity to present such a statement.

Few people who witness a criminal trial, particularly a death-penalty case, can fail to be moved by the plight of the victim. Even the acclaimed 1995 motion picture Dead Man Walking, which was clearly written from an anticapital punishment viewpoint, makes a compelling presentation of the terror suffered by the victims of the killer, and of the parents' continuing anguish over their murdered children. So who could be opposed to victim impact statements?

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), though it has not made a clear stance with regard to VIS, has presented testimony in opposition to a proposed Victim's Rights Amendment to the Constitution. From the ACLU perspective, everything must be done to protect the rights of the accused--even after the accused becomes the convicted, at which point a VIS may result in an unfairly harsh sentence.