A perfect example is the use of victim impact statements. They allow those close to victims to express the emotions of vengeance and hatred for the criminal in a more free, organic way than is possible during the strict regular court proceedings.
Regardless of how the statements affect the result, the injured individuals have a platform to state their feelings and the unstated consequences of the crime without worrying about getting the facts right or making good eye contact with the jury. Even though victim impact statements are recorded by a court reporter and heard by a jury, they are a very personal way for those who are hurting to directly tell the person responsible how his actions impacted them. This can be more healing, in many cases,
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Girard noted the connection in primitive sacrifices: “the more critical the situation, the more ‘precious’ the sacrificial victim must be” (18). In the judicial system, the sympathy for certain kinds of victims that VIS invokes can lead to harsher punishments. For example, few people would not be affected by the VIS made by the grandmother in the murder case Girard cited, describing how her grandson, Nicholas, “cries for his mom. He doesn’t understand why she doesn’t come home … he comes to me during the week and asks me, Grandma, do you miss my Lacie?” (814). The sympathy that statement creates could quickly turn into a thirst for justice in the form of revenge, leading to a harsher punishment. The more heinous the crime, the more the community will feel compelled to push back against State procedures that give the defendant a fair trial. To appease the public and give it a “careful measure of satisfaction,” a more severe punishment must be given to match the horror of the crime (21). Hearing how a crime has affected community members allows the jury to properly gauge the punishment needed to maintain the legitimacy of the court. In Girard’s view, upholding the efficacy of the courts is