Two-time NBA championship winner and former Miami Heat player Shane Battier voiced his support for Amendment 6 in a new video released today by Marsy’s Law for Florida. In the video, the former professional basketball player calls on all Floridians to give victims of crimes the rights and voice they deserve and to join with him in voting yes on Amendment 6. Amendment 6/Marsy’s Law for Florida would give crime victims rights equal to the accused or convicted without taking any rights away from those who have been accused or convicted.
Battier joined Tracy Mourning, wife of former Miami Heat teammate Alonzo Mourning, at a pro-Amendment 6 rally in South Florida last week.
If passed by voters by a margin of 60 percent or greater next week, Amendment 6 will place a new, specific set of distinct rights for crime victims in the Florida Constitution. Some of these basic, commonsense rights include:
- The right to have standing in court
- The right to be 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
Battier is not the first celebrity to publicly endorse Amendment 6/Marsy’s Law for Florida. Earlier this month, Marsy’s Law for Florida rolled out a television ad featuring five-time Emmy winner Kelsey Grammer, best known for his starring roles on Cheers and Frasier. In the ad, Grammer shares the heartbreak his family faced after his father and later his sister were murdered. Grammer’s family was not notified when his father’s killer was released from prison, which is why Grammer has made it his personal mission to ensure other crime victims have rights and protections, such as the right to be notified.
Amendment 6/Marsy’s Law for Florida has been endorsed by more than 230 individuals and groups including Congressional members, state elected officials, local elected officials, sheriffs, state attorneys, retired judges, former state elected officials and government leaders, law enforcement associations, advocacy organizations, victims and victims’ families.
For more information on Amendment 6/Marsy’s Law for Florida, visit marsyslawforfl.com.
