New Jersey Crime Victims' Law Center
Legal Advocates Protecting The Rights of Crime Victims
Pro Bono Attorneys
In community with crime victims, advocates, and victim service organizations, The New Jersey Crime Victims’ Law Center promotes and advances crime victims’ civil rights in the criminal and civil justice processes through a statewide system of pro bono legal advocacy, education, and resource sharing. The New Jersey Crime Victims’ Law Center was established in 1992 by Ann and Richard Pompelio, who are victim-survivors of the murder of their 17-year-old son, Tony Pompelio. They are also practicing lawyers in the state of New Jersey. NJCVLC is the first and oldest crime victim pro bono legal rights enforcement program in the United States.
New Jersey Crime Victims' Law Center
Our Mission
The New Jersey Crime Victims' Law Center (NJCVLC) provides pro bono legal assistance to victims of violent crime in the criminal justice system throughout the State of New Jersey. The NJCVLC was established in 1992 by Richard and Ann Pompelio after their 17 year old son Tony was murdered, and the Pompelio family experienced first hand the harsh treatment victims of violent crime often encountered in the criminal justice system.
The NJCVLC was the first of its kind in the United States, and it has served as a model for other pro bono crime victim law clinics that have developed in other states. It is now part of a national victims' rights network lead by the National Crime Victim Law Institute of Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. The NJCVLC continues to be a leader in the victims' rights movement in New Jersey, and is proud to be an integral part of the national movement that is sweeping throughout the United States.