Why Victims’ Rights Laws Are a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

A billionaire's emotional crusade to amend every state constitution could have disastrous consequences.

Why Victims’ Rights Laws Are a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing Victims-rights-554x465

Why Victims’ Rights Laws Are a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing Victims-rights-554x465

The Marsy’s Law for All national campaign for the expansion of victims’ rights is an exercise in constitutional experimentation. But because it thrives on emotional manipulation, it has continued to win over one state legislature after another—despite opposition from civil libertarians and criminal justice reform advocates.
Their opposition, however, is quickly moving from the hypothetical to the real world, as more states grapple with the collateral consequences of implementing this reactionary law.
Marsy’s Law differ from state to state but typically involve a familiar cluster of new and what critics deem extreme legal rights for crime victims—everything from privacy and notification mandates to legal representation and input on parole proceedings.
Earlier this month, the Wisconsin legislature approved sending their version of Marsy’s Law to voters next April, which, if approved, would enshrine these new victims’ rights into the Wisconsin Constitution. A similar ballot initiative will probably go before Pennsylvania voters in November. That amendment, which has the support of Democratic Governor Tom Wolf, has already been approved by the state’s house of representatives and is awaiting a senate vote before it can appear on the November ballot. The vote will likely pass, helped by tens of millions of dollars that the Marsy’s Law campaign typically spends on these ballot initiatives.
Civil libertarians and other criminal justice reform advocates, however, have consistently raised concerns about how the law undermines the due process rights of the accused and the presumption of innocence—the keystone of any just legal system. But there are other problems with these initiatives that have become impossible to ignore.

Cart Before the Horse
Since 2008, at least 10 states—including California, Illinois, and Florida—have adopted some form of Marsy’s Law into their constitutions. The model legislation is the work of tech billionaire Henry Nicholas, who founded the campaign after his sister, Marsalee, was murdered by an ex-boyfriend in 1983.
Over the last decade, Nicholas, who has serious legal issues of his own, has, according to Ballotpedia, pumped tens of millions of dollars of his fortune into his effort, going state by state convincing lawmakers and voters to give constitutional protections to victims. His endgame isn’t modest. He wants to enshrine Marsy’s Law into the United States Constitution—a truly terrifying prospect.

More: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/why-victims-rights-laws-are-a-wolf-in-sheeps-clothing/

Why Victims’ Rights Laws Are a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

Why Victims’ Rights Laws Are a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

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