COLUMBUS, Ohio — Supporters of Marsy’s Law, a proposal to strengthen Ohio’s crime victim rights laws, can begin collecting the hundreds of thousands of signatures necessary to put the measure before voters later this year.
The Ohio Ballot Board on Wednesday certified the proposed constitutional amendment as a single ballot issue. The amendment would replace the 1994 Ohio Victims’ Rights Amendment with 10 specific rights for victims.
Supporters now must collect at least 305,591 signatures of registered Ohio voters, including a certain number in 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties, by July 5 to qualify for the November ballot.
Supporters say the existing victim’s rights law is unenforceable. Marsy’s Law explicitly states victims can assert these rights in court and, if denied, file an appeal.
The effort is backed by Henry Nicholas, a California businessman whose sister Marsy was killed by her ex-boyfriend in 1983.
Nicholas and his mother ran into the accused murderer at a grocery store one week after Marsy’s death. The family did not know he had been released on bail.
Under Marsy’s Law, victims or their families would have to be notified of any change in status of the person accused of the crime. They would also have the right to receive reasonable protection from the accused or any person acting on his or her behalf.
Nicholas has successfully backed similar measures in California, Illinois, North Dakota and Montana.
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