Pennsylvania appellate judge bars state from counting Marsy's Law votes

[Jake Stern]

1. Great news

Marsy's Law is built on good intentions but is horrible in practice.

From the ACLU on Marsy's Law:

Marsy’s Law is premised on the notion that victims should have “equal rights” to defendants. This opening salvo is a seductive appeal to one’s sense of fairness. However, the notion that victims’ rights can be equated to the rights of the accused is a fallacy. It ignores the very different purposes these two sets of rights serve.

The U.S. Constitution and all 50 state constitutions guarantee defendants’ rights because they are rights against the state, not because they are valued more by society than victims’ rights. Defendants’ rights only apply when the state is attempting to deprive the accused – not the victim – of life, liberty, or property. They serve as essential checks against government abuse, preventing the government from arresting and imprisoning anyone, for any reason, at any time.

As a victim of crime I certainly empathize with other victims but the civil libertarian in me cannot abide any law which effectively strips due process rights from someone facing imprisonment.

Read more: https://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform/victims-rights-proposals-marsys-law-undermine-due-process