Jeffrey R. Dion

Jeffrey R. Dion has been fighting to advance the cause of crime victims' rights for more than two decades. When Dion was 14 years old, his sister was brutally murdered. The murder remained unsolved for years. As a teenager, he continued to press law enforcement for information, unaware at the time that he was part of a growing number of crime victims who were seeking greater involvement in the criminal justice system. 

Eventually, the murderer of Dion's sister was determined to be one of the Nation's most notorious serial killers. After the murderer confessed, Dion learned that there would be no trial because the murderer had already been convicted of five counts of first-degree murder. He was assured by law enforcement that the murderer of his sister would never be released from custody. 

In honor of his sister's memory, Dion decided to pursue a career in law. He served as a Governor's Fellow in the Office of the Virginia Attorney General and law clerk to the judges of Virginia's 17th Judicial Circuit. In 1995, Dion joined a homicide survivors' support group sponsored by the Fairfax County Police Department. As Dion listened to other victims voice their concerns with the criminal justice system, he suggested that the victims join together and work to change the law. 

As a grassroots lobbyist in the Virginia General Assembly, Dion was successful in having 13 bills enacted into law. Those measures enlarged the definition of a victim, and expanded victims' rights to be present in the courtroom, to offer oral victim impact testimony, confer with prosecutors, and testify by closed-circuit video. 

In 1998, Dion joined the staff of the National Center for Victims of Crime, where he serves as Deputy Director for the National Crime Victim Bar Association. In 2002, Dion was appointed by the Governor of Virginia to serve on the Virginia Criminal Justice Services Board, where he chairs the Victim/Witness Issues Advisory Committee. 

In 2005, he was honored by the Northern Virginia Victims' Alliance as a Champion of Justice and by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services as one of the individuals who has had the greatest impact on crime victims' rights in Virginia during the past 10 years. 

Dion was nominated by Chief of Police David Rohrer, Fairfax County Police Department, with support from Paul McNulty, U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Virginia, and former Virginia Governor Mark Warner.