Fifteen years ago, when I started all of this, I think victims really had very little input into the process. Time has moved forward, and victims are allowed to present impact statements and attend hearings. It's a much more open and transparent exercise.
How does that benefit me in particular? There are no surprises. I know what I'm dealing with. Information is power. Knowledge is power. It empowers a victim to know what's going on with an inmate. When you send an inmate off to serve a sentence, you have no idea what their life involves anymore. When you submit a victim impact statement for the purposes of a hearing, that impact statement is shared with the offender. Everything you submit, actually, that goes into the offender's file is shared with the offender.
For a victim, the only way you have the ability to be a part of that process and know what advances or not the offender is making within their incarceration period is to attend a hearing, and to receive reports from the Parole Board, because you get to listen. They talk about their programs. They talk about their progress or lack thereof. You get a really good understanding and a sense of how things are going. You're heard. Your concerns are heard.
When I submit an impact statement, I'm speaking not only only for myself and my kids, but I'm speaking for my husband as well. I feel that even the people who've been taken from us have a voice in all of this, and it's my obligation to be that voice.