Lewis & Clark Law Students Launch Crime Victims’ Rights Student Group

This fall, Lewis & Clark law students launched the Crime Victims’ Rights Alliance (CVRA) student group.  The group’s mission is to raise awareness and educate future attorneys about issues relating to crime victim advocacy by exploring current dilemmas in the field, offering solutions, promoting discussion, and encouraging collaboration amongst legal groups in acknowledging and furthering the rights of crime victims.  The CVRA, now comprised of 45 members, meets regularly to establish a community of support, to explore what it means to be an attorney with an interest in the rights of crime victims, and how to effect progress in this burgeoning field of law. 

The CVRA co-sponsored two NCVLI Student-Attorney Roundtable Lunches this semester where students interested in crime victims’ rights have the opportunity to discuss emerging issues in victim law with a NCVLI attorney.  At the October lunch students explored the question “Who is a crime victim” with NCVLI Executive Director Meg Garvin, and in November students had the opportunity to meet with NCVLI attorney, Amy Liu, to discuss crime victims’ rights and defendants’ rights in relation to live video testimony at trial.  In the coming weeks, the CVRA is co-sponsoring an NCVLI educational event on the Lewis & Clark campus – “Holistic Services for Victims of Domestic Violence.”  NCVLI is excited to partner with the CVRA in educating and mobilizing tomorrow’s victims’ rights attorneys. 

CVRA Secretary, Melanie Musial, had this to say about the group:

“CVRA is a meaningful addition to the Lewis and Clark law school community. It provides students with an opportunity to become aware of not only the legal issues victims of crime face but also to see the various ways lawyers are working to protect and advance victims’ rights. For myself, being involved in a group like this is especially important because victims’ rights was one of the main reasons I decided to pursue a career as an attorney. Last year as a first year law student, I felt like we were missing a group for students who eventually wanted to work with victims of crime.  CVRA filled this gap and gives those students, like myself, a forum to delve into these issues and network with practicing attorneys in the field while also educating the student body at large about issues they might not otherwise have known about.”

Click here to learn more about the CVRA.

© 2011 National Crime Victim Law Institute