As the Mighty Lights display on the Hernando de Soto Bridge on the Mississippi River illuminated colors of blue, green and purple, Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy spoke of the importance of honoring victims of crime. 

“We’re seeing those bridge lights come on to honor the victims, to honor their families, to shine a light and attention on their needs, and also to shine the light of truth,” Mulroy said.

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The colors illuminated on the bridge were selected by the U.S. Department of Justice to mark National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, which has been celebrated annually since 1981. This year’s NCVR week is observed from April 23 to 29. 

As Mulroy stood in an area behind the Cecil C. Humphreys’ School of Law overlooking the river and the bridge, he said the voices of victims are not heard as often as they should be. 

“Sometimes, this is because of self-censorship, because of fear of retaliation, or, in the case of domestic violence victims and special victims unit victims, fear of stigma,” Mulroy said. “But very often, it’s simply because of the mechanics of our criminal justice system, which has to churn through such a high volume of cases, that there’s insufficient time to really pay attention to the voices of survivors.”

Mulroy said too much of the public’s focus has been on sentence length, bail amount and conviction rates, and not enough has been on things that will help victims, such as restitution and restorative justice.

Now Mulroy’s office is working on both, in addition to recent offerings for victims and witnesses — including free snacks, water, Subway gift cards and parking.

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The DA’s office is working to obtain grant funding to provide a victims’ restitution fund on a trial basis that will cover things the state’s Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund does not. The state’s fund covers medical expenses, loss of wages, funeral expenses and other unforeseen costs related to the crime.

“The sad reality is that victim restitution is often ordered, but rarely paid, precisely because the defendants in our criminal justice system don’t have money,” Mulroy said.

The DA’s office, in partnership with the Shelby County Juvenile Court, is also working with Raphah Institute to expand its restorative justice programming, through which victims and offenders are brought together to share their experiences, talk about who was harmed during the crime and determine what an offender might do to repair the harm. 

“I think that focus on restitution and restorative justice is something that we need to work on if we really care about helping our victims,” Mulroy said. “And so, I’m hoping to do all of these things in the months and the years ahead.”