Well, the victim impact statements, just as in the civilian criminal justice system, at a practical level allow for the direct input of victims into the deliberations, into the final dispensation of sentencing. They allow the victim to put on the record and to have a voice about the impact this has had on them. It can be financial. It could be emotional. It could be physical, in the cases of assault. It allows them to express themselves in a way that currently, in our military justice system, at least, doesn't exist to the extent that it should and that it could. It doesn't have the same prominence that we now see in our civilian criminal code.
It allows that victim impact statement to be considered by the adjudicator when it comes to the final meting out of a sentence. It allows the military justice system to mirror, to the greatest extent possible, that same level of inclusiveness for victims. Our government has been very strident about the importance of victims' rights and I think it's no less important—it's certainly of identical importance—when it comes to our military justice system.