00                   HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 21                                                                   
01 Supporting the National Crime Victims' Rights Week of 2008.                                                             
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
03       WHEREAS, in 1994, Alaska voters expressed strong support for crime victims' rights                              
04 by approving art. I, sec. 24, Constitution of the State of Alaska, which identified the rights of                       
05 crime victims; and                                                                                                      
06       WHEREAS the theme of the 2008 National Crime Victims' Rights Week is Justice                                    
07 for Victims, Justice for All, evoking the ideals that support our system of justice and declaring                       
08 that justice for all cannot be achieved without justice for victims of crime; and                                       
09       WHEREAS, whether the crime is a drive-by shooting, a campus massacre, an act of                                 
10 terrorism, or a crippling identity theft, all Alaskans are vulnerable to crime, and, in this sense,                     
11 victims' rights are all Alaskans' rights; and                                                                           
12       WHEREAS securing justice for victims, who are too often denied basic rights and                                 
13 services, secures justice for all Alaskans; and                                                                         
14       WHEREAS serving victims of crime and ensuring justice for all makes Alaska                                      
15 homes, neighborhoods, and communities safer and stronger; and                                                           
16       WHEREAS the legislature recognizes the need to ensure that services are available to                            

01 all victims of crime, including victims with disabilities, victims who are mentally ill, victims                        
02 who are teenagers, victims who are elderly, and victims in rural areas of the state;                                    
03       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature supports the 2008 National                                     
04 Crime Victims' Rights Week to be observed April 13 - 19 to express the legislature's                                    
05 commitment to victims' rights.