A victim impact statement is a written or oral statement made as part of the judicial legal process, which allows a victim of crime

Crime

Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...

 the opportunity to speak during the sentencing

Sentence (law)

In law, a sentence forms the final explicit act of a judge-ruled process, and also the symbolic principal act connected to his function. The sentence can generally involve a decree of imprisonment, a fine and/or other punishments against a defendant convicted of a crime...

 of their attacker or at subsequent parole

Parole

Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...

 hearings. In some instances videotape

Videotape

A videotape is a recording of images and sounds on to magnetic tape as opposed to film stock or random access digital media. Videotapes are also used for storing scientific or medical data, such as the data produced by an electrocardiogram...

d statements are permitted.
Victim impact statements originate from the Manson Murders

Charles Manson

Charles Milles Manson is an American criminal who led what became known as the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that arose in California in the late 1960s. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the Tate/LaBianca murders carried out by members of the group at his instruction...

 in 1969. One of those killed was actress Sharon Tate

Sharon Tate

Sharon Marie Tate was an American actress. During the 1960s she played small television roles before appearing in several films. After receiving positive reviews for her comedic performances, she was hailed as one of Hollywood's promising newcomers and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for...

. A decade after the murders, Tate's mother, Doris

Doris Tate

Doris Gwendolyn Tate was an American campaigner for the rights of crime victims. After the murder of her daughter, the actress Sharon Tate, and several others, she worked to raise public awareness about the United States corrections system and was influential in the amendment of California laws...

, in response to the growing cult status of the killers and the possibility that any of them might be granted parole

Parole

Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...

, organized a public campaign against what she considered shortcomings in the state's corrections system, which led to amendments to the California criminal law

California criminal law

California Criminal Law generally follows the law of the United States. However, there are both substantive and procedural differences between how the United States Federal Government and California prosecute alleged violations of criminal law...

 in 1982, which allowed crime victims and their families to make victim impact statements during sentencing and at parole hearings.