Against the Clock: Crime Victim Compensation Law and Temporality Across the 50 United States

Abstract

Violence can result in insurmountable losses for victim-survivors. Restitutive and compensatory measures have been historically and contemporarily implemented to address these harms. Crime victim compensation (CVC) is a means by which the state reimburses victim-survivors of violent harm without relying on offender restitution. Overall, the current study argues that CVC laws and regulations may marginalize victim-survivors by regulating the body through crime-reporting and application time limits, as well as through wait times for compensation receipt. With this argument, the current study aims to use a content analysis and quantitative analysis to examine the intricacies of crime-reporting and application time limits detailed within statutes and administrative regulations across the 50 United States, as well as benefit receipt wait times.