{"id":27310,"date":"2018-01-23T13:40:09","date_gmt":"2018-01-23T18:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/?p=27310"},"modified":"2018-01-23T13:40:09","modified_gmt":"2018-01-23T18:40:09","slug":"marsys-law-in-wisconsin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/2018\/01\/marsys-law-in-wisconsin\/","title":{"rendered":"Marsy\u2019s\u00a0Law\u00a0in Wisconsin\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever heard something that, almost immediately after hearing it, bounced your thoughts from the possible benefits to the seriously questionable\u00a0outcomes that might follow, and left you swinging back and forth between the two?\u00a0 This is exactly what happened to me just recently after hearing about\u00a0Marsy\u2019s\u00a0Law coming to Wisconsin.\u00a0 As it stands, I can get behind the general idea of the law, but I do have some doubts\u2014problems,\u00a0even\u2014with the way\u00a0the law\u00a0is being pushed forward.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMarsy\u2019s\u00a0Law\u201d\u00a0is the idea that crime\u00a0victims, and the families of crime victims (who\u00a0become victims by association) should have equal rights to those\u00a0who\u00a0are accused of victimizing the family.\u00a0\u00a0According to\u00a0the\u00a0web site<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0Marsy\u2019s\u00a0Law for All, the law is named for\u00a0Marsalee\u00a0(Marsy)\u00a0Nicholas, a\u00a0\u201cbeautiful, vibrant University of California Santa Barbara student, who was stalked and killed by her ex-boyfriend in 1983.\u201d\u00a0(Quote from\u00a0Marsy\u2019s\u00a0Law for All) One week after\u00a0Marsy\u2019s\u00a0\u00a0murder,\u00a0some of\u00a0her\u00a0family\u00a0members\u00a0entered a grocery store and were confronted by the man who\u00a0was accused of\u00a0murdering\u00a0Marsy.\u00a0\u00a0Marsy\u2019s\u00a0alleged\u00a0murderer had been let out on bail and the family had not known about it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Marsy\u2019s\u00a0Law for All\u00a0argues\u00a0that the\u00a0United States\u00a0Constitution\u00a0and\u00a0every state constitution\u00a0have\u00a0a detailed set of rights for people who are accused of crimes, but the\u00a0United States\u00a0Constitution and 15 state\u00a0constitutions do not have a list of rights for victims of crime.\u00a0 As I am writing this, the web site for\u00a0Marsy\u2019s\u00a0Law\u00a0argues that the United\u00a0States\u00a0Constitution has 20 individual rights for those accused of a crime, but none for the victims of crime.\u00a0 States, on the other hand, have been making some progress.\u00a0 California, Illinois, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Ohio have passed\u00a0Marsy\u2019s\u00a0Law, with efforts\u00a0to adopt the law\u00a0currently underway in Kentucky, Maine, North Carolina, Georgia, Nevada, Idaho, Oklahoma, and here in Wisconsin.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is not a bad thing.\u00a0 There is not a doubt in my mind that any\u00a0and every\u00a0citizen of the United States should be given the same rights as any other.\u00a0 And I agree with\u00a0the organization\u2019s\u00a0statement that a rapist or a murderer should not be given more rights than the victim (or the victim\u2019s family).\u00a0 Most of the \u201crights\u201d being argued for are not\u00a0too different from laws already in place.\u00a0 In fact, from the sounds of it, most of the states\u00a0that\u00a0have enacted\u00a0Marsy\u2019s\u00a0Law have simply written it into current law on the books and went about their day.\u00a0 Specifically,\u00a0for Wisconsin,\u00a0the Legislature has passed a\u00a0motion<\/a>\u00a0to amend Article I,\u00a0Section\u00a09(m) of the Wisconsin Constitution, which deals with the victims of crimes.\u00a0\u00a0The law proposes:\u00a0notifying victims\u00a0(or family of victims)\u00a0when the\u00a0offender\u00a0is free;\u00a0giving victims\u00a0timely notification in big developments in the criminal case;\u00a0giving a\u00a0victims the ability\u00a0to provide their thoughts on plea arrangements or before sentencing;\u00a0and\u00a0allowing victims\u00a0the ability to be heard at\u00a0any stage during the trial or\u00a0proceeding regarding the freeing of the offender.\u00a0 Really, most of the rights\u00a0Marsy\u2019s\u00a0Law for All is looking for are straightforward and I could get behind.\u00a0 Looking at the incident that started this, it is not hard to imagine the anger, frustration, or even fear, of being confronted by the person who is believed to be the murderer of a family member.\u00a0 But\u00a0Marsy\u2019s\u00a0Law for All goes further, and that is where my problems with\u00a0this\u00a0proposal\u00a0begin.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Marsy\u2019s\u00a0Law for All wants to amend the\u00a0United States\u00a0Constitution to include rights for victims.\u00a0 I was a bit skeptical immediately\u00a0upon hearing this.\u00a0\u00a0My initial thoughts ran to a slippery slope of forcing states to abide by federal\u00a0law\u00a0for different charges\u00a0(for example,\u00a0second degree manslaughter in one state may be manslaughter in another)\u00a0that would no doubt have to be hammered out in the court system before being somewhat figured out.\u00a0 Then, I heard what\u00a0Marsy\u2019s\u00a0Law for All\u00a0wanted to add to the Constitution:\u00a0a constitutional right to restitution for criminal matters.\u00a0\u00a0Restitution for crimes, to me,\u00a0sounds much more like a civil matter than a federal criminal matter.\u00a0 On top of this, and specifically\u00a0of potential\u00a0impact\u00a0in\u00a0Wisconsin,\u00a0victims can force their input to be considered by the jurisdictional authority (which would no doubt bog down an already overloaded system), and, most worrying to me,\u00a0the victim\u00a0would be\u00a0able\u00a0\u201c[t]o\u00a0refuse an interview, deposition, or other discovery request made by the accused or any person acting on behalf of the accused.\u201d\u00a0This is a serious reach.\u00a0 I can understand wanting to help victims of crimes, but I also understand not stomping on the rights of an accused individual.\u00a0 Not even stomping.\u00a0Negating.\u00a0 This, to me, screams unconstitutional.\u00a0 A quick Google search can show you\u00a0the\u00a0a\u00a0large\u00a0number\u00a0of wrongly convicted people have spent\u00a0time in prison, and that is with our past\/current system.\u00a0 Imagine an accused individual being denied discovery, being convicted, then having to sit and wait for an appeal proceeding that will take even longer because the victim and\/or their family can decide the convicted person hasn\u2019t sat long enough.\u00a0\u00a0In California, where\u00a0Marsy\u2019s\u00a0Law began and was implemented, those who were handed a life sentence and were denied parole,\u00a0had to wait<\/a>, on average, 15 more years\u00a0until their next parole hearing, as compared to just\u00a0two\u00a0years prior to the\u00a0law\u2019s\u00a0implementation.\u00a0 While Wisconsin is not California, and the report states that some other factors should be considered, it is worth noting a dramatic increase in the time spent waiting for a procedural hearing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As I have stated before, there are some parts of\u00a0Marsy\u2019s\u00a0Law that I could get behind, but there are some parts of the law that need to be taken out.\u00a0 The ACLU has\u00a0warned<\/a>\u00a0against\u00a0Marsy\u2019s\u00a0Law and has\u00a0jumped on\u00a0board\u00a0lawsuits that have been filed against it, including one in Montana that had the law struck down as unconstitutional.\u00a0\u00a0The ACLU\u00a0argues\u00a0the same points\u00a0as I do:\u00a0good intentions, bad implementation.\u00a0For a different view, and one from a 32-year veteran of the courts, see\u00a0here<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0I am curious as to the thoughts of others on this subject, especially those of professors or practicing attorneys, and I hope to be seeing some discussion of this before this proposal is voted on in Wisconsin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you ever heard something that, almost immediately after hearing it, bounced your thoughts from the possible benefits to the seriously questionable\u00a0outcomes that might follow, and left you swinging back and forth between the two?\u00a0 This is exactly what happened to me just recently after hearing about\u00a0Marsy\u2019s\u00a0Law coming to Wisconsin.\u00a0 As it stands, I can 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