Marsy’s Law for All, a national organization that advocates for the inclusion of clear and enforceable crime victims’ rights in state constitutions, this week is presenting a new award to champions of crime victims’ rights across the United States. The Marsy’s Law for All Victims’ Rights Champion award honors dedicated champions throughout the nation whose efforts to advance crime victims’ rights have strengthened and elevated the rights of crime victims across the country. Among the inaugural honorees are U.S. Senator Rick Scott, Governor Ron DeSantis and First Lady Casey DeSantis. An additional 21 Floridians will also be recognized with an award.
Each of the Florida awardees is being recognized for his or her strong advocacy for Amendment 6/Marsy’s Law for Florida, a constitutional amendment that placed a specific set of crime victims’ rights in the state constitution. The voters passed the measure in November by 61 percent.
During the current legislative session, Senator Lauren Book filed a bill (SB 1426) to clarify some aspects of Amendment 6 and ensure all participants, including victims, judges, prosecutors, law enforcement and defense attorneys, know their rights and responsibilities under the new constitutional language. This week, Florida crime victims’ rights advocates flooded into the Florida Capitol to call on lawmakers to take action on this bill so the rights in Marsy’s Law for Florida will be fairly and uniformly provided to all victims across the state.
The awards are being presented during National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, April 7 – 13. Every April, National Crime Victims’ Rights Week is observed to create awareness of the need for stronger crime victims’ rights and to remove barriers to full justice for all victims of crime.
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.
