Melissa Stephenson, JD, is the General Counsel of New Mexico Victims Rights Project. She provides legal assistance to victims of crime throughout the criminal justice process, as well as assistance to victims of crime in creating victim impact statements, filing for restitution, obtaining information regarding an offender through the Department of Corrections or in collaboration with probation and parole officers, and facilitating their contact with other victim resources. She also provides training and educational opportunities on the issues surrounding victims’ rights law to advocates, prosecutors, and the broader legal community.
Ms. Stephenson brought the first appellate action to the N.M. Supreme Court successfully establishing victim standing and asserting other specific victims’ rights in that state. She is a Governor’s appointee to the NM Sentencing Commission representing the interests of victims of crime, a collaborator in the ARC of New Mexico Justice Advocacy SAVE project to help stop assault and violence against individuals with developmental disabilities, a member of the NM Victims Rights Coalition, and co-author of Whartons’ Criminal Procedure Vols. 1-3.
