AVCV History
In the years after Arizona’s voters overwhelmingly approved the addition of the Victims’ Bill of Rights, Ariz. Cost. art. II, § 2.1, to our constitution…
it became increasingly clear that the constitutional provisions and its implementing legislation alone were not enough to ensure that victims would have a meaningful opportunity to participate during the criminal justice process or that trial courts would honor and uphold victims’ rights. Steve Twist and Sen. Jon Kyl had a vision of providing crime victims with pro bono attorneys to assert and enforce their constitutional rights in Arizona’s courts as well as social workers to meet the emotional needs victims often have. Thus, Arizona Voice for Crime Victims, the first clinic of its kind in the country to provide both pro bono legal and social services to crime victims, was founded. Not only did this vision lead to AVCV, it shaped the future of non-profit victim services throughout the country. Since 1996 AVCV has successfully litigated victims’ rights issues in both state and federal courts often leading to appellate decisions that have further defined, preserved and protected victims’ constitutional rights.