Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Dear Friends,

Today we observe a National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims, where we pause to remember those taken from us by violence, as well as the families and friends they have left behind.

Arizona has taken this day to remember victims for several years, but this year, the commemoration moves to a truly national scale, with a ceremony in Washington, D.C. and resolution from Congress marking the Day of Remembrance. This national recognition was made possible by the work of several Arizonans – including representatives of my office and members of our state’s congressional delegation.

Thousands of Americans are murdered each year, forever taken from their families and friends. Faced with the death of a loved one, victims’ families encounter challenges that are both short-term and long-lasting. It is important that as a community, we offer comfort and support to victims, and demonstrate that their lost loved ones will never be forgotten.

To this end, I’m asking all Arizonans today to take a moment to honor the memories of murder victims and express support to their families.

But aside from remembering, it is important to offer concrete support to victims and survivors whose lives are changed by an act of violence. We have been working toward this goal during my time as Governor. In the past several years:

Arizona became the first state to have a governor’s adviser on victims’ rights, introducing a precedent that has been picked up by other states.
The Arizona Department of Corrections created an Office of Victim Services to aid the victims of crime.
I proposed and signed legislation that protects victims of domestic abuse and stalking from having to list their personal addresses on public Web sites, and that ensures free copies of police reports to victims of serious crimes.
Arizona adopted “privileged communication” legislation that I proposed. This legislation allows statements made by sex offenders during treatment to be admissible in legal proceedings, if those statements provided a reasonable suspicion that the offender had committed a new, separate sex crime.

It is important that the community extend victims and survivors not just our compassion, but our support.

Survivors or victims reading this message should know that there are resources in the community that exist to support you. You can contact my adviser on victims’ rights, Dan Levey, at dlevey@az.gov or (602) 364-2235.

And as always, if you have any questions or comments about this or any other matter, feel free to contact my office at 1-800-253-0883 and ask to speak to Constituent Services.

Yours very truly,

Janet Napolitano
Governor