Victim Impact Panels

The Shasta County Judicial Branch, Adult Probation Department with the local chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has established a “Victim Impact Panel Program”.

MADD uses the panel as an educational tool for convicted alcohol offenders.

Each Panel includes two to three victims who are selected by MADD to speak briefly about the drunk driving crashes in which they were injured or in which a loved one was killed and what this has meant to them. The panelist stories are told from the heart in neither a blaming or accusatory tone. Instead they simply tell their story about how their lives and families have been affected by the crash. Victims never speak to groups in which their own offender is present. There is no interaction between the victims and the offenders during the panel presentation, but a question and answer period will follow in which a MADD representative will read written questions from the offenders.

Judges and Probation Officers may require convicted drunk driving offenders to attend a Victim Impact Panel as an element of their sentence. The panel does not replace conventional sentencing but rather adds a creative component to it.

Values for the offender:

• To enable offenders, perhaps for the first time, to consider the pain and suffering drunk driving can cause to others
• To help offenders move beyond focusing on their own problems
• To serve as a first step in breaking down the denial of alcoholism or the denial of those addicted to other drugs
• To imprint images of real people in offenders’ minds which may replay when drinking and driving is again an option
• To change behavior and save lives

Values for the Victims:

• To provide an opportunity for victims to become more involved in the criminal justice system
• To assure victims they can have a positive impact if an offender’s lifestyle is changed through their message

For more information on MADD Shasta County Victim Impact Panel please call:

530-347-1365