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Fundamentals Of Victims’ Rights: An Overview of the Legal Definition of Crime “Victim” in the United States (2011)

Common sense tells us that it should not be difficult to determine whether a person is a crime victim. It should be obvious, for example, that the person who had her laptop stolen is a victim of a theft. But whether that person is a “victim” who is entitled to assert crime victims’ rights in any given case can be a challenging question to answer. The answer depends largely on the legal definition of “victim” that is set forth in applicable constitutional amendments, statutes, and rules, and this definition varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.

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