October 1.2QQ4 »,
L ive no^t of the v'onan in the a iry varehouse-ciin-nightolub, Arven Bird is dressed
in a l l v h ite . I t is the iechrtoDyVe Vhite Party, and the club is l i t as i f by the noon.
Lesbian Fred A staires and Ginrer Rorerses sashay around the dance floor.
This is th e second night in a rov: Bird has attended a g litte r y thene oarty. The
evening before vas her birthday, and she threw h erself a gold lane soiree.
Bird beans and sips her ro rV ta il. She has had nurh to celebrate th is year. \Tot only
did she pass a na.ior b irthday n ileston e—the big 3'"'—rhe was awarded a prestigious
fellov'ship for her innovative worv i n c r in in a l justice reform'.
In January, Bird was selected to be a Soros Ju stice Advocacy Fellov by the Open
Society In stitu te in Yew Yorv City. A t o t a l of 3on applicants con.peted for the 1 1
grants. Bird is one of the f i r s t crin.e survivors to receive one of the fellowships,
which a re , according to the in s titu te , given to “ dynamic individuals wording to
resto re fairness and discretion to the U.S. crim in al ju stice system.”
Bird, who was named a f te r the Lord of the Rings ch a ra cte r Arwen Undomiel (which
means “ noble maiden” ), has been concerned with social issues since she attended
MilwauVie High School, where she was on student council and helped organise a blood
drive. Yhat turned her into a social a c tiv is t, though, was an accident. L ite ra lly .
A sudden Flare
of headlights
The evening of Feb. 28, 1993, began like any
other weekend night. Bird had recently started
her second semester at Lewis & Clark College.
Though she lived on campus, she still hung out
with her younger sister Sierra. On this particu
lar evening, Bird was the designated driver for
their outing to an off-campus party. T he sisters
had fun; Sierra had a few drinks, Bird didn’t.
W hen it was time to go home, their safe pas
sage seemed well in hand.
Then came the sudden glaring lights in the
rearview mirror, coming at them tex) fast.
“It was the biggest and scariest thing that
had ever happened to me,” remembers Bird.
The car on their tail slammed into their
tiny Le Car, collapsing the back seat into the
front seat and rolling the car 360 degrees.
A fireman would later say that Bird s car
looked like a smashed orange soda can.
The man driving the tailgating car, Kevin
Nielsen, had been racing with other men in
hopes of impressing women in a third car. Bird
says he was probably using her car as a “goal
post.” And yes, he had been drinking.
The sisters were both severely injured. Sier
ra’s head was crushed. T he bruises to her brain
would pennanently impair her math and read
ing ability and dasb ber hopes to pursue space
science. Bird was paralyzed from the ribcage
down, which has resulted in osteoporosis and
loss of bladder control, among other condi
tions.
Nielsen walked away without serious injury.
He was convicted of two counts of second-
degree assault and dninken driving. He was
sentenced to one year in a work-release pro
gram, his license was suspended, and he was
ordered to pay restitution to Bird and her sister.
Bird says the crash had a “ripple effect that
penneated to our parents, relatives and friends.
We were suddenly thmst into the criminal jus
tice system, of which we knew nothing.”
They were also put in the agonizing situa
tion of having to fight for what the court said
was due. To this day, Nielsen has not paid the
full amount he owes the Birds.
Bird returned to schcxtl in the fall of 1993
and went on to earn her degree in biology. In
time, she “realized that energy spent hating the
man who hit us was better spent healing
myself.”
Her family began to heal, ttx>, and now the
Birds celebrate “Crashiversary” every Feb. 28
because they are happy to have Bird and Sierra
alive.
“We always say T love you’ when we say
gtxxlbye, because we know we could go at any
moment,” says Bird.
A slippery kind
of .justice
Her family’s experience with the criminal jus
tice system continued to nag at Bird. On the
one hand, she says she feels safer knowing that
Nielsen received dmg and alcohol treatment
while he was in detention.
O n the other hand, she says the system
failed her and her sister.
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“There is really no one in the system designated to help survivors after
the person who hurt them is off probation”
— Arwen Bird
“It is up to my sister and me to try and get
the restitution that Kevin owes us,” she says.
“There is really no one in the system designat
ed to help survivors after the person who hurt
them is off probation.”
Bird saw serious flaws in a system that is set
up only to punish, not to help survivors heal or
to help perpetrators accept responsibility for
their crimes and learn to make better decisions.
“[It’s] focused on retribution, not on working to
prevent what happened from happening
again,” she says.
As her frustration with the justice system
grew, st) did her ingenuity. In 1999, the same
year she came out as a lesbian, she co-founded
the nonprofit Survivors Adv<x:ating for an
Effective System.
SA FES serves two basic purposes; to give
voice to progressive-minded crime survivors
and to advocate for criminal justice reform.
Members from throughout the state work
together on several main activities, including
victim-offender dialogues, a speakers bureau
and political advtx:acy.
“We see ourselves as part of a larger move
ment against violence,” says Bird. “We want
everyone to be safe.”
One primary concern of the group is restitu
tion reform. SA FES is part of the Oregon
Attorney General Hardy Myers’ Restitution
Reform Task Force. This is an issue of particu
lar importance to Bird because she feels restitu
tion is one of the key ways Nielsen can take
responsibility for the crime he committed
against her.
SA FES has identified key ways in w'hich
the restitution system needs to be reformed.
LIQUIDATION
Musii
WNT ïque
First, survivors are expected to pursue their
restitution payments, without help from the
justice system. Second, offenders are given the
ability to chextse to make and complete pay
ments to survivors. But some chm se not to pay
at all. Finally, suite agencies are not empowered
to help survivors collect restitution.
SA FES seeks to put healing for survivors
and communities at the forefront of the justice
system, rather than blame and punishment. Its
philosophy is to reject mandatory sentencing,
the death penalty, prison expansion and other
“tough on crime” initiatives.
“My case illustrates the illogic of mandatory
sentencing,” says Bird. “Under current law
[Nielsen] would have received a minimum of
five years.. .without any guarantee of drug and
alcohol treatment— the very thing that likely
helped him not recidivate!”
Bird sees “a huge discrepancy” in the crimi
nal justice system. “As survivors we live with
the effects of the crime for the rest of our
lives,” she says. “T he system is so bent on pun
ishing people that the real needs of survivors—
like restitution— and communities get lost in
the process.”
L oral rtenr tovard
a n ation al Foal
This f(x:us on healing individuals and commu
nities is what has earned Bird so much respect
among colleagues and policy makers. She has
testified before Congress in favor of a Victim’s
Continued on Page 21
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