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Matthew Johnson, political Director of Marsy's Law for Wisconsin Marsy's Law for Wisconsin is a grassroots movement of a broad coalition of Wisconsinites working to create equal rights for victims of crime. Led by a bipartisan group of cosponsors, the non-partisan legislation passed on first consideration as Senate Joint Resolution 53, but must be passed again (in 2 consecutive sessions?) in order to be included in the Wisconsin Constitution. These rights will constitutionally guarantee victims the ability to enforce their rights in court. Marsy’s Law for Wisconsin updates the 1993 victims rights constitutional amendment by giving victims new rights and strengthening existing ones. Marsy’s Law does not impact the rights of the accused. It only ensures that victims have equal rights as the accused and can request these rights for more involvement if the victim chooses. Several questions were asked about how notification to victims can be improved and Matthew stated the costs to fill all the notification requirements in Marsy's Law can be covered by existing staff of Law Enforcement officials, DA's and ADA's staff. Legislators will need to pass Marsy's Law in 2019 in order for voters to ratify the amendment in the April 2020 elections. If chosen as a top legislative priority, victims could begin utilizing their Marsy's Law rights as soon as July of 2020. |
