Kentucky Voters Could Add Crime Victims’ Rights to the State Constitution
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What the Referendum Does
The Kentucky Marsy's Law Crime Victims Rights Amendment would amend the Kentucky Constitution to add specific rights of crime victims, known as Marsy’s Law. Those rights would include “the right to be treated fairly, with dignity and respect, and the right to be informed and to have a voice in the judicial process.”
Argument in Favor
Accused criminals shouldn’t have more rights than crime victims. Adding Marsy’s Law to the Kentucky Constitution would ensure that victims’ rights are respected as the criminal justice process plays out and they aren’t forgotten by the system.
Argument Against
Kentucky law already provides statutory rights to victims. Rather than adding those rights to the state constitution in a way that will be expensive and difficult to implement, Kentuckians should focus on ensuring that the existing protections for victims of crime are upheld.
In-Depth
Marsy’s Law for Kentucky is leading the campaign in support of this ballot measure. Sen. Whitney Westerfield (R-3), a sponsor of this measure, says, “Statutory protections, when they go head to head with the rights of the accused that are enshrined in the Constitution, they lose. Right now, the victims are not on equal footing with the accused. I believe they should be.”
The ACLU of Kentucky and Kentucky Association of Defense Lawyers oppose this ballot measure. David M. Ward, president of the Kentucky Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, says:
“The problem is that the [ballot] language... conceals what would be a dramatic change in the Kentucky Constitution and alters nearly every criminal case being prosecuted in the Commonwealth… The problem is that it is easier for legislators to back a Constitutional Amendment in the name of ‘Victims’ Rights’ than it is to provide oversight, funding, and enforcement of the Victims’ Rights laws we already have.”
The Kentucky Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers sued to block this ballot measure, arguing that its wording — “Are you in favor of providing constitutional rights to victims of crime, including the right to be treated fairly, with dignity and respect, and the right to be informed and to have a voice in the judicial process?" — is misleading.
On October 16, Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate agreed, and ordered officials not to certify the results of next month’s vote on this ballot measure. Marsy’s Law for Kentucky criticized the Kentucky Association of Criminal Defense lawyers’ “eleventh hour [suit], just before the election,” arguing:
“We strongly believe the ballot question drafted by the General Assembly adequately informs the voters and will immediately appeal the decision to the Kentucky Court of Appeals.”
It is currently under appeal, and the amendment will appear on the ballot regardless of the outcome.
This proposed constitutional amendment was referred to voters by the Kentucky legislature, which approved it on bipartisan votes of 34-1 in the Senate and 87-3 in the House.
The effort to institute Marsy’s Law across the U.S. is primarily backed by Henry Nicholas, co-founder of Broadcom Corporation, whose sister, Marsalee “Marsy” Nicholas, was murdered by her ex-boyfriend. A week after his sister’s death, Henry and his mother encountered Marsy’s ex-boyfriend at a grocery store after he was released on bail — they hadn’t been made aware of his release.
Due to this experience, Henry founded Marsy’s Law for All, the national organization advocating for Marsy’s Law. The organization’s mission is to “amend state constitutions that don’t offer protections to crime victims and, eventually, the U.S. Constitution to give victims of crime rights equal to those already afforded to the accused and convicted."
As of 2018, six states have enacted Marsy’s Law amendments: California, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Ohio, and Illinois. A seventh state, Montana, initially approved a Marsy’s Law amendment, but it was struck down in 2017 as unconstitutional by the state supreme court.
Summary by Lorelei Yang
(Photo Credit: iStockphoto.com / LPETTET)
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