00Enrolled HCR 21                                                                                                         
01 Supporting the National Crime Victims' Rights Week of 2008.                                                             
02                                           _______________                                                               
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                             
04      WHEREAS, in 1994, Alaska voters expressed strong support for crime victims' rights                               
05 by approving art. I, sec. 24, Constitution of the State of Alaska, which identified the rights of                       
06 crime victims; and                                                                                                      
07      WHEREAS the theme of the 2008 National Crime Victims' Rights Week is Justice                                     
08 for Victims, Justice for All, evoking the ideals that support our system of justice and declaring                       
09 that justice for all cannot be achieved without justice for victims of crime; and                                       
10      WHEREAS, whether the crime is a drive-by shooting, a campus massacre, an act of                                  
11 terrorism, or a crippling identity theft, all Alaskans are vulnerable to crime, and, in this sense,                     
12 victims' rights are all Alaskans' rights; and                                                                           
13      WHEREAS securing justice for victims, who are too often denied basic rights and                                  
14 services, secures justice for all Alaskans; and                                                                         
15      WHEREAS serving victims of crime and ensuring justice for all makes Alaska                                       
16 homes, neighborhoods, and communities safer and stronger; and                                                           
17      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.