It s something that Judge snore

It s something that Judge snore Robertson and I are very much interested in pushing for,” says Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge A. Burke Hertz. "We’ll do anything we can to help this. The whole criminal justice system has been criticized, with some efficiency, in the last few years for showing more concern for the criminal than for the victim. The victim often feels more prosecuted that the criminal. This program is designed to alleviate that feeling."

Loudoun’s Victim W itness Program, the model in the state, runs on $20,000 of the taxpayers' dollars. That’s the salary paid its director, Irene Wodell, who is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Wodell and a host of volunteers provide services to the innocent by-standers of crime. Wodell and a host of volunteers raise the rest of the money that's needed with help from merchants, businesses and patrons in the community.

“Don’t let anybody tell you that you don’t have room for a Victim Witness Program. We started in an off closet!’ Wodell notes.

There’s space, here and in Fauquier, for a Victim Witness office. There’s money available, both here and in Fauquier, to pay a director’s salary, particularly if that salary is split between the two jurisdictions. In addition, there may be grant funds available to get a Victim Witness Program underway, according to Wodell.

But if the money has to come from local colters, it's a small price to pay for the alleviation of suffering a Victim Witness Program brings. And it’s precious little to pay for creating renewed confidence in our criminal justice system.

Society is built on the framework of that system. It gives meaning to the laws that enable society to function. Everytime an innocent victim loses confidence in the criminal justice system, society is the biggest loser.