Families of homicide victims with federal cold cases would gain more rights under a bipartisan bill introduced on May 19 by U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX).
“Almost 30 years have passed since the unspeakable and brutal murders of four teenage girls at a local yogurt shop in Austin,” Rep. McCaul said. “To this day, we do not know who is responsible. As a father of five and a former federal prosecutor, it seems unimaginable to go without an answer as to why a loved one was taken so suddenly.”
“That is why this legislation is so important — to give these Austin families and others like them — the tools to work with law enforcement to pursue justice on behalf of their loved one,” said Rep. McCaul.
The congressman introduced the Homicide Victims’ Families Rights Act, H.R. 3359, with bill sponsor U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) to authorize a system for reviewing the case files of cold case murders, according to the congressional record bill summary.
Rep. McCaul cited information from the Murder Accountability Project (MAP) showing that the percentage of homicides for which someone is charged as being responsible has steadily declined from over 90 percent in 1965 to under 65 percent in 2018 based on data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
As a result, more than 250,000 Americans are homicide victims for which no one has been charged since 1980, according to MAP.
If enacted, H.R. 3359 would give relatives of homicide victims the right to have their loved one’s case file reviewed once the case has gone cold after three years, according to a bill summary provided by Rep. McCaul’s staff, and would require the federal government to notify family members and similarly situated people of their rights and provide them with updates on any cold case review.
The legislation is supported by Homicide Family Advocates, the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the Murder Accountability Project, Parents of Murdered Children, the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, the National Organization for Victim Assistance, and Project: Cold Case.