Crime Victim Fund Is Unfair

Back in November of 2009 Thomas George Reeve (pictured above) was senselessly killed in an Amarillo bar.   The bar was being held up (16 people were robbed in the bar) and for some reason the robber decided to shoot and kill Reeve.   Reeve was a British tourist, and had only been in town for a few hours when he was killed.   The shooter, a Lubbock native, was later apprehended and is now sitting on Death Row.

A person would think that was enough bad news for the family of Reeve (he was the father of a baby daughter), but the state of Texas has now compounded their tribulations.   The family has been notified by state officials that they do not qualify for funds from the state's Crime Victim Compensation program (which seeks to help victims and their families monetarily).

The state says the family doesn't qualify for any help because Reeve was not a citizen of Texas, and the law says only Texas citizens can be compensated.   He was killed in Texas by a Texan through no fault of his own, but the state refuses to recognize him as a victim deserving compensation.   That's just wrong!

State Rep. Roberto Alonzo (D-Dallas), a member of the House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee, agrees.   He said,   "We need to show that Texas stands for fairness.   Every crime victim should be compensated.   If other states don't exclude anyone, we shouldn't either."

Alonzo is right.   This stupid clause of the Victim Compensation law should be changed, and the legislature should make that retroactive to compensate the Reeve family.   But I'm not going to hold my breath.   The Republican leadership in Austin only cares about the rich.   I hope I'm wrong, but I don't expect anything will be done.