A constitutional amendment about victim’s rights known as Marsy’s Law will be on the ballot in Kentucky’s upcoming election.
Written in California, the law was created after the mother of a murder victim witnessed the accused killer walking freely in public shortly after his arrest. Henry Nicholson, the brother of the murder victim, now pushes to have the bill adopted by state legislators.
According to ballotpedia.org, The first state to adopt the bill was in California in 2008 as of May 2020, 14 states had passed a ballot measure for Marsy’s Law.
If Marsy’s Law is adopted, victims of crimes would receive better constitutional rights. This includes a constitutional right for victims to receive restitution, be notified of court proceedings, and be notified when the offender is released from custody.
In Kentucky, victims are appointed victims advocates. These professionals are trained to support victims of crime, offer emotional support, offer victims information, help find resources, and assist in filing out crime related forms. The advocates help victims through the proceedings and get help for the victims they serve.
Kaitlyn Poloski, victims rights advocate of Louisville, supports the bill and felt that victims could benefit from having better rights.
“The victim should be allotted more rights, especially when it comes to serious crimes and felony cases.” Poloski said. “I agree with the fact that everybody is innocent until proven guilty, but I do believe that more should be done [for victims] prior to the defendant being convicted. I think there should be more things put in place for the victim.”
In Kentucky, victims receive statutory protections such as, protective, emergency, social and medical services, community-based treatment programs, notification of when a person has been released from a prison or jail, juvenile detention facility, psychiatric facility or under limited circumstances, a forensic psychiatric facility, and many other protections.
https://ag.ky.gov/Priorities/Justice-for-Crime-Victims/Pages/crime-victims-rights.aspx
But these rights and protections aren’t equivalent to those of the perpetrator who has state and federal rights.
The legislation won approval by voters in 2018, but was unanimously thrown out by the Kentucky Supreme Court due to the amendment not being published in its entirety, but instead in a question.
Marsy’s Law amendment was approved in 2018 with a 63 percent vote by Kentucky voters. On August 13, 2018, the Kentucky Association of Defense Lawyers filed litigation against the state.
The association said the ballot question failed to inform the electorate of the substance of the amendment and that the amendment should be blocked. On June 12, 2019, the Kentucky Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, rendered the amendment void.
According to The Kentucky Law Journal, “Marsy’s Law would guarantee ten constitutional rights for crime victims. Many of the rights asserted in the proposed amendment are already covered by a series of state laws called the “Kentucky Crime Victim Bill of Rights.”
Kentucky State Senator Whitney Westerfield (R) of Christian County is sponsoring the bill in this year’s legislative session, according to ballotpedia.org.
The Kentucky Law Journal said, “Critics voice concern over the courts granting legal status to a victim, before it has been established that a crime took place, considering that our judicial system fundamentally values the presumption of innocence.”
Eric L. Ray, Attorney at Law, had similar views concerning Marsy’s Law.
“The problem is if victims in a community don’t feel like the prosecutor is doing that effectively. The way to solve this is to vote that person out of office,” Ray said “… I’m not sure that we need another avenue, and we have prosecutors in the best position possible to explain to the court the victims position and thoughts.”
.Members of the ACLU and The Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers have yet to be persuaded of the bill.
In November, the question on the ballot will be: “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?”
If passed, this bill could become a part of Kentucky’s constitution.