• Posted November 21, 2025

Compensation Claims More Frequently Rejected For Families Of Black Murder Victims

Grieving families of Black murder victims are more likely to be denied their claims for victim compensation, a new study reports.

These families are more likely to file for victim compensation following their loss, but face disproportionately high denial rates, researchers recently reported in the journal Race and Justice.

“Victim compensation was designed to help grieving families, but current practices reinforce racial inequities instead of alleviating them,” lead researcher Daniel Semenza, director of research at the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center and associate professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health, said in a news release.

In the United States, the federal government compensates victims to help them recover from violent crime, and every state now runs its own victim compensation program, researchers said in background notes.

These programs typically reimburse crime victims directly for medical costs, mental health care, relocation assistance, lost wages, crime scene cleanup and funeral costs, researchers said.

For the new study, researchers examined nearly 60,000 compensation claims filed by the families of murder victims across 18 states from 2015 to 2023.

Families of Black murder victims filed the most claims, amounting to nearly 23,000 during the study period. By comparison, Hispanic families filed more than 14,000 claims, and white families more than 9,500.

This makes sense, given that Black Americans represent just under 14% of the U.S. population but account for 54% of all murder victims, researchers noted.

However, Black families were more likely to have their claims rejected, results show.

The approval rate for claims from Black families was just under 82%, compared to 87% for white families and 89% for Hispanic families.

“Families of Black homicide victims file the most victim compensation claims, but their claims are disproportionately denied,” Semenza said.

Researchers found that “contributory misconduct” — the victim’s involvement in a criminal act — was the cited reason for 30% of all denials, but represented more than 57% of denials for claims from Black families.

“This overrepresentation suggests that law enforcement’s assessment of victim behavior may disproportionately penalize Black victims and families, reinforcing racialized narratives of criminality and implicit victim blaming,” researchers wrote.

In essence, Black families are denied support following their loved one’s murder, despite the family having nothing to do with criminal activity, researchers said.

“This process pathologizes and punishes Black families, by suggesting that the victim’s alleged misconduct renders their family undeserving of support,” researchers concluded.

More information

The U.S. Office for Victims of Crime has more about victims’ compensation.

SOURCES: Rutgers University, news release, Oct. 27, 2025; Race and Justice, Oct. 24, 2025