Should victims be allowed to participate in the criminal justice process or should the government be the "objective" arbiter of justice?

Certainly, victims are included in the calculus of
justice.  On one hand, the prosecution represents the "rights" of the victims.  The
voice of those who have been wronged is represented by the prosecution and the forces
that it has at its disposal.  At the same time, I think that the use of "victim impact
statements" at sentencing helps to allow some audible and acknowledged voice of the
victims to those who have been found to do wrong.  From this, I think that one can say
that victims are allowed participation in the criminal justice process.  I think that
this might be the extent to which victims should participate in justice.  Too great of
intervention of the victims into the realm of justice in terms of its adjudication and
deliberation transforms the pursuit of justice in terms of vengeance.  While the
prosecution acknowledges the experience of the victims, to allow the victims to guide
the pursuit of justice creates a realm where vengeance is too close, too great of a
reality.  In the conception of justice as an ideal, something which vengeance is not the
intended purpose.