Should victims influence legislation?

No, says Larry Webster who argues that "[o]ur current laws on crime and punishment are an abject failure" and that "[w]e are using most of the state treasury to house convicts, while our crime rate goes up and up". All of this, Mr. Webster argues, is due to "the fact that most modern criminal laws were drawn up by victims or prosecutors, with almost zero participation from the criminal element or their lawyers" and that "victims, bearing grief and outrage, are usually irresistible to lawmakers, who listen to the stories of personal tragedy and then pass something stupid and name it after the dead." Is Mr. Webster correct -- should Legislators prefer the advise of criminals -- and/or their Lawyers -- to victims as they craft legislation?