CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – The Hamilton County Family Justice Center hosted an event Thursday afternoon inside its auditorium and atrium as part of Crime Victims’ Rights Week.
The event provided information about victims’ legal rights, local resources, and ways to get help or support someone else.
Topics included domestic violence and sexual assault awareness.
During the event, News 12’s Chip Chapman served as emcee and shared a personal family story related to domestic abuse, along with remarks on domestic violence.
“Much like actual physical cancer and domestic violence doesn’t care about your race, doesn’t care about your religion, doesn’t care about your sex. It has no bias whatsoever also with physical cancer. Much of the time domestic violence doesn’t show itself until in many cases it’s too late,” Chapman said.
District Attorney General Coty Wamp also spoke about the challenges victims and families often face when engaging with the justice system.
“Unfortunately my office and sometimes me I have to give victims really bad news and most often those conversations begin with me telling the victim or the survivor or the victim’s family that our system protects defendants,” Wamp said.
Another focus during the event was Marsy’s Law which is set to appear on the November 2026 ballot and would expand crime victims’ rights to include court notification and the right to be heard if approved.
The constitutional amendment expands crime victims’ rights to include notification of court proceedings and the right to be heard during the justice process.
City and county leaders also participated in recognizing Crime Victims’ Rights Week.
“This year‘s proclamation theme, ‘Protect victims serve communities,’ emphasizes the critical need to remove barriers, meet survivors and their families where they are and foster hope in order to build a safer, healthier community,” said Alexa LeBoeuf, representative for Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly.
Crime Victims’ Rights Week is observed nationwide each year to recognize and support victims of crime.
