As I leave the National Crime Victim Law Conference (NCVLI) in Portland, I am more convinced than ever that legal representation for crime victims is not a luxury, but necessary for justice.
Meg Garvin challenged us with the "Incremental Impossible" — the idea that the rights we take for granted once seemed out of reach, and the path forward is built on what already exists.
Juveniles facing delinquency proceedings have long had a right to counsel established by the Supreme Court in In re Gault (1967), on the recognition that vulnerable parties in high-stakes proceedings cannot protect themselves alone. The military took a similar step with 10 U.S.C. § 1044e, creating the Special Victims' Counsel program. What once seemed impossible — a lawyer for every eligible victim of special crimes in the military justice system — is law.
The lesson of Civil Gideon is this: Gideon v. Wainwright guaranteed counsel in criminal cases, but there is still a hole where liberty and safety are equally at stake. The military's model shows it can be done, and the "Incremental Impossible" isn't cynicism but a strategy.
At the conference, Coles Whalen, singer-songwriter and stalking survivor, shared that when she finally reported to law enforcement, she was grateful her aunt — an attorney — was present for her law enforcement interview. That one person made all the difference.
Erica, a civilian whose assault was part of a pattern affecting approximately 20 other victims, navigated a system that was not built for her with the help of attorneys Ryan Guilds and Stacey Menijivar, when the Army was unable to extend military victim representation. The data: victims not represented by counsel were far less successful, and saw inadmissible evidence come in. The testimony from Erica? The success of her conviction was from having Ryan and Stacey by her side.
As a speaker, being in a room with roughly 30 Victims Counsel and Paralegals from the Marines, Navy, and Air Force was both humbling and energizing. The military built this system, and when the civilian justice system follows, these two systems become partners, ensuring victims are protected all the way around, with no gaps in coverage.
Ruth's Truth: The system doesn't fail victims randomly. It fails them predictably when they're alone in it. Counsel is the right that makes all the other rights real.
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