MARSY’S LAW FOR WISCONSIN
The April 7 ballot will include this question:
Question 1: Additional rights of crime victims. Shall section 9m of article I of the constitution, which gives certain rights to crime victims, be amended to give crime victims additional rights, to require that the rights of crime victims be protected with equal force to the protections afforded the accused while leaving the federal constitutional rights of the accused intact, and to allow crime victims to enforce their rights in court?
YES vote would mean updating Wisconsin’s Constitution with strong, enforceable rights for crime victims. You have the power to help those, who through no fault of their own, are forced into a criminal justice system because they have been a victim of a crime.
Marsy’s Law for Wisconsin is a grassroots movement of a broad coalition of Wisconsinites working to create equal rights for victims of crime.
Marsy’s Law for Wisconsin updates Wisconsin’s 1993 victims’ rights constitutional amendment by giving victims new rights and strengthening existing ones.
Marsy’s Law for Wisconsin passed the Legislature with broad, bipartisan support in consecutive sessions.
Wisconsin AG Josh Gaul approves of this law.
If approved, Marsy’s Law for Wisconsin will ensure victims of crime have enforceable rights throughout the criminal justice process – just like accused persons do.
Marsy’s Law does not impact the rights of the accused. It only ensures that victims have equal rights as the accused –nothing more, nothing less.
Wisconsin voters will have a chance to ratify the Amendment during the April 7, 2020 election.
Marsy’s Law is named after Marsalee (Marsy) Nicholas, a University of California Santa Barbara student, who was stalked and killed by her ex-boyfriend in 1983.
Only a week after Marsy was murdered, Marsy’s brother and Marsy’s mother walked into a grocery store after visiting Marsy’s grave. They were confronted by the accused murderer. They had no idea that he had been released on bail.
The family’s story is typical of the pain and suffering the family members of victims have endured. They were not informed because the courts and law enforcement, though well-meaning, had no obligation to keep the family informed. While criminals have more than 20 individual’s rights spelled out in the U.S. Constitution, the surviving family members of murder victims have none.
For more information, go to www.equalrightsforwi.com>about-marsys-law.
You will find the long list of endorsements as well as stories of victims.