Florida crime victims share personal stories highlighting
the need for Amendment 6/Marsy’s Law for Florida
Marsy’s Law for Florida today launched a new social media video campaign in support of Amendment 6/Marsy’s Law for Florida, which would embed a new set of crime victims’ rights in the state constitution if passed by 60 percent of voters. The series of videos feature crime victims, survivors and advocates sharing their personal stories and reasons for supporting Amendment 6/Marsy’s Law for Florida.
The crime victims and survivors appearing in the video series not only share their deeply personal and poignant stories of how crime has forever altered their lives, but also describe ways in which they feel the criminal justice system has ignored them, left them without a voice and revictimized them.
In the first set of videos released, featured are:
- Agnes Furey of Tallahassee, whose daughter and grandson were murdered
- Kathy Swafford of Jacksonville, who was sexually abused by her stepfather
- State Attorney Andrew Warren, Florida’s 13th Judicial Circuit, Hillsborough County
“Sadly, the stories featured in our social media campaign are just a few examples of the types of scenarios playing out across Florida each day. Victims who were left in the dark about their case, victims who were forced to become their own legal advocate, victims whose voices were never heard and victims who were not informed their perpetrator was released from prison therefore compromising their safety,” said Greg Ungru, Marsy’s Law for Florida State Director. “The rights provided for under Amendment 6/Marsy’s Law for Florida would have changed each of these victims’ experiences in the criminal justice system. It time to correct these injustices by voting YES to the coequal rights provided by Amendment 6.”
Florida is one of only 15 states that does have clear, enforceable rights for victims in its state constitution. Some of the constitutional-level rights and protections Amendment 6/Marsy’s Law for Florida would provide include:
- The right to have standing in court
- The right to present at all proceedings involving the case
- The right to reasonable and timely notice of proceedings
- The right to be heard in any proceeding during which a right of the victim is implicated including release, plea, sentencing, disposition, parole, revocation, expungement or pardon
- The right to timely notice of any release, escape or death of the accused, if the accused is in custody or on supervision at the time of death
- The right to proceedings free from unreasonable delay
- The right to timely information about the outcome of the case
The new social media campaign coincides with a substantial statewide broadcast, cable and digital advertising campaign encouraging Floridians to vote in favor of Amendment 6/Marsy’s Law for Florida.
For more information on Amendment 6/Marsy’s Law for Florida, visit marsyslawforfl.com.
About Marsy’s Law
Marsy’s Law is named after Marsalee “Marsy” Nicholas of California who was stalked and killed by her ex-boyfriend in 1983. Only one week after her death, Marsy’s mother and brother, Henry T. Nicholas, walked into a grocery store where they were confronted by the accused murderer. The family, who had just come from a visit to Marsy’s grave, was unaware that the accused had been released on bail. In an effort to honor his sister, Dr. Nicholas, co-founder of Broadcom Corporation, has made it his mission to give victims and their families constitutional protections and equal rights. He formed Marsy’s Law for All in 2009, providing expertise and resources to victims’ rights organizations nationwide.
