Victims? Rights Constitutional Amendment

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the how Senate Judiciary Committee passed the victims? rights Constitutional amendment, which would give crime victims the right to be notified, present and heard at critical stages throughout their case. It examines how advocates for the amendment believe it encompasses four basic ideas: that all victims should be treated with the same dignity and given the same information as the accused criminal; how victims are notified when rapists or abusers are let out of jail or prison; how no one can profit from crime, and any monies should go to the victims and their families; and finally, how nationwide victims will be allowed to make victim impact statements before final sentencing. It also discusses how the amendment has encountered much opposition from nonprofit groups and prosecutors and judges who believe that granting victims the right to a speedy trial may put pressure on prosecution to try the case before it is ready.

From the Paper:

"The amendment also denies defendants due process rights, due process rights protect the innocent from arrest and imprisonment. They do not exist to protect the guilty criminals from punishment. One basic due process right is the right to be afforded an impartial trial. However, when you have victims pleading to the jury to return a guilty verdict, you can easily see that someone innocent could easily be denied the due process of the law (aclu.org). The result of this miscarriage of justice is innocent people being wrongfully convicted for crimes they did not commit (Wallace)."

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