Can Victims’ Rights Go Too Far?
Yes, they can and have, one reason being that Marsy’s Law is vaguely written and makes it more difficult for those accused to defend themselves.
The definition of victim has been expanded, even to some misdemeanors. A person does not have to experience harm directly to be considered a victim.
The people who pushed for Marsy’s Law in the various states concentrated on the extreme examples, not telling voters about the people who will be caught up in this web for whom the law was never intended.
The presumption of innocence is at stake now, and accusers in many states are now able to “refuse an interview, deposition or other discovery request”.
Florida voters passed the amendment in 2018, not understanding that their state already guaranteed victims’ rights prior to the 2018 election.
Marsy’s Law was mostly financed by a grieving billionaire brother who has been accused of various crimes.
Even though this article is a couple of years old, it is still relevant today, unfortunately.
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Here is my email to the author:
Hi.
I was wondering if you had any insight into this question:
Why can’t ex-sex offenders vote in Florida? Why can an armed robber or an arsonist or a spouse-abuser or a drug dealer automatically regain the right to vote, but a sex offender cannot?
Are sex offenders statistically less well-educated (hence less well-informed) than armed robbers, arsonists, etc?
Or, could it be that we have ensconced hatred for a class of people into the constitution of the State of Florida? (This sounds a lot like the definition of Jim Crow, to me.)
PS: The current governor has stated that he will not even consider applications for civil rights restoration from former sex offenders.
Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe. -Frederick Douglass
When you forgive, you in no way change the past – but you sure do change the future… Bernard Meltzer
Driven by Evidence rather than Ideology – Gavin Newsom
@ JJJJ: Even more to the point, someone convicted of identity fraud, perjury, witness tampering, terrorist threats/intimidation, forgery, or even voter fraud can get his/her voting rights restored. And each of those certainly align more closely to the activities relating to elections, polling places, and voting rights than does any sexual offense conviction (unless, I suppose, you happen to be “revenge porning” a political candidate! 🙄)
Short answer: There is absolutely NO logical connection or valid basis for restricting the voting rights of someone with a sexual offense conviction. Absolutely no basis. None. Period. 😒
Everyone in Florida who is on the hit list should get together and protest and tell the government if you’re not allowed to vote, then you shouldn’t have to pay any taxes. No taxation without representation, because you’re not being given a voice in the election process.
Liked that “accused of various crimes” link. 😒 Billionaire promises million dollar donation to buy his way out of felony drug charges. Because, yeah, every one is equal under the law….. but some are more equal than others. 🙄😣😡
I feel for the family, and understand why they would want to know stuff about the case. I would too off I were in their shoes. I’m not so biased by my personal situation to say everything they did in pushing for the laws was wrong. My more pressing issue is when an accuser can say something and no other evidence be provided, then a man is found guilty. It’s not just sex offenses that are suspected to this, it’s racial biases as well. I don’t think it’s right or fair too compare the registry to racist laws that unfairly target and keep people in the system. I am encouraged when small things happen in our favor. I spend my time on social media trying to educate the people of research that prices their biases wrong. But to say that the laws spoken about in the article are just all bad, or to compare the registry to Jim crow is just wrong and does not help our cause