I have the honor to submit the second report of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board for the fiscal year of 1971, rendered pursuant to the provisions of Article 26A of the Annotated Code of Maryland.

Baltimore

Dated: July 15, 1971

Respectfully,
JOSEPH PICKUS
Chairman

SECOND REPORT OF THE

CRIMINAL INJURIES COMPENSATION BOARD

STATE OF MARYLAND

TO:

Honorable Marvin Mandel

Governor of the State of Maryland
Colonel Robert J. Lally, Secretary

Department of Public Safety and
Correctional Services

Honorable Legislative Council
State of Maryland

Gentlemen:

We have the honor to submit this, our Second Report:

I. ADMINISTRATIVE BACKGROUND

This report covers the period of July 1, 1970 through June 30, 1971. It is the second year of the Board's existence.

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Board was created on July 1, 1968. The State of Maryland was one of the first states in this country to create a program of compensation to crime victims. Since that time, several additional states have created similar programs and presently the federal government is considering a program. Numerous other states and Senator Mansfield's office, have called upon this Board for its experience looking forward to adopting some program to compensate innocent victims of crime. This Board has always cooperated with these inquiries and will continue to do so in the future.

On May 27th, 28th and 29th, 1970, this Board hosted the Second International Conference for Compensation to the Innocent Victims of Crime. The conference was well attended and as a direct result, an International Association of Criminal Injuries Compensation Boards was formed.

The new organization's primary goal will be the co-ordination and cooperation of the various Criminal Injuries Compensation schemes. The creation of this new organization, in itself, reflects the awakening of the social consciences of the people of the western world towards the compensation and rehabilitation of the innocent victims of crime. Stanley L. Van Rensselaer, Chairman of the Crimes Victim Compensation Board of New York and George J. Bryan, Q.C., Chairman of the Crime Compensation Board of Alberta, Canada were elected Co-Chairmen. Joseph Pickus, Chairman of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board of Maryland was elected Treasurer and Professor Allan M. Linden of York University, Osgoode Hall Law School, Ontario, Canada was elected Secretary.

We are now cooperating and exchanging information and statistics with the Members of the organization and the benefits derived are invaluable.

II. CATEGORIES OF AWARDS

We shall set forth later in this report an analysis of the claims, together with the type of crime committed, as well as separate the claims generally into three categories:

a. Lump sum payments-where the claimant returns to work with no diminution in earnings.

b. Protracted claims-where the decision is made and then provides for periodic monthly payments during the continued disability and diminution in earnings, and lastly

c. Death claims-where again the decision is made making an award up to the time of the decision and then providing for a monthly payment to the dependents.

Our awards are paid pursuant to Section 36 of Article 101 of the Annotated Code of Maryland, which is the Award Section of the Maryland Workmen's Compensation statute.

III. RULES AND REGULATIONS

This Board, pursuant to the provisions of its statute, adopted Rules and Regulations, which were approved and duly filed with the Secretary of State, Clerk of the Court of Appeals, etc. The Board in these Rules and Regulations set up certain guidelines to determine serious financial hardship. Unless serious financial hardship is shown, no award can be made.1

The number of applications received in the last six months of the fiscal year increased dramatically over the number received in the first six months of the fiscal year. Inasmuch as there has been and there continues to be an increase in public awareness of the legislation and of the Board, we anticipate similar substantial increases in the next fiscal year. Notwithstanding the increase in applications submitted to us, we note that only a small percentage of the victims of what appeared to be eligible crimes committed in Maryland are filing applications. For that reason, we will continue to discharge our responsibilities to advise the public concerning the benefits available under the statute. We consider this duty of advising and informing our citizenry to be an extremely important and continuing one.

The Board has been the subject of numerous newspaper releases and stories. We have also used and are indebted to various radio stations for allowing us public service time for spot announcements. Radio and television stations in Baltimore, New York, Washington, D. C., Hagerstown, and Salisbury have also conducted programs explaining the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board.

1 59-P-69; 15-D-70

We have also contacted all the Social Service Departments, Police Departments, Workmen's Compensation Commission, various state departments, county departments, Legal Aid Societies and all hospital and similar types of organizations, informing them of our Board. The Board also prepared a brochure explaining, in laymans' terms, the statute. The Board has now distributed over 100,000 of these brochures in all parts of the State.

The Board recognizes that the public is not as yet well informed and we shall continue our efforts within our own limitations to make use of the news media, radio and television to accomplish this.

V. TIME LIMITATIONS

In order to be eligible for an award, police records must show that the crime was reported to the police no more than 48 hours after the occurrence of such crime. This requirement can be waived by the Board in exceptional circumstances upon the showing of good cause. Claims must also be filed not later than 180 days after the occurrence of the crime, upon which claim is based or not later than 180 days after the death of the victim. The Board can for good cause shown extend the time for filing up to two years.

VI. STATISTICAL EXPLANATIONS

The number of claims that were accepted and investigated were 308 and in addition to that, there were what shall be termed as inquiries, 1,500. These inquiries were not processed by opening a file and starting an investigation because the Secretary of the Board, who is also the Executive Director, did not find the claimants to be eligible under our statute. We have had for example, a number of inquiries from citizens of this state, who were injured in crimes that took place in other states and in particular, the District of Columbia. We have also had inquiries from various creditors and distant relatives of the deceased victims who do not meet the eligibility of the statute. Crimes involving automobiles are also excluded by the statute unless intentionally committed and are likewise rejected by the Secretary. Sometimes it also becomes necessary for a preliminary investigation to be conducted to determine if the claim or inquiry was one that should be accepted for investigation. This is done to save the time of the investigative staff and save the costs of processing the claim. Of the 308 claims accepted and filed, there were 234 decisions rendered, of which 111 awards were made and 123 were disallowed. The reasons for disallowance of the claims are as follows: