Ballot Measure Named After Murdered Malibu Woman Goes to Sacramento for Verification

• Victim Rights Proposal Known as Marsy’s Law Appears to Be On Track for the November Ballot

BY NICOLE KLIEST

Members of the Malibu-based group Justice for Homicide Victims say they made a huge step forward for crime victims in Sacramento Monday, after a press conference that indicated they foresee a victims rights measure’s likely inclusion on the November ballot.
The proposal, “Marsy’s Law: Crime Victims Bill of Rights Act of 2008,” is named after Marsalee Nicholas, a Malibu 21-year-old who was murdered by an ex-boyfriend in 1983.
Nicholas’ mother, Marcella Leach, is co-founder of Justice for Homicide Victims and a victims’ rights activist. She spoke in Sacramento at the press conference in the state capital.
“The district attorney from Sacramento spoke as did Assemblyperson Todd Spitzer and many others from our organization,” Leach said. “We have enough signatures to get it on the ballot, and there seemed to be an overall favorable response to it.”
Constitutional amendments require 763,798 valid signatures; Marsy’s Law has submitted 1.27 million for verification. The bill hasn’t been qualified yet, but the organization fully anticipates it is going to be on the ballot in November.
One element of Marsy’s Law states that crime victims should be informed when an individual is released on bail. Leach’s mother said she had to “endure running into her daughter’s murderer in Malibu not long after her death.”
“We had the funeral, and about a week later, we went to the cemetery to put flowers on her grave. We stopped at the market on the way home, and when I walked in, I practically ran into her murderer,” Leach said. “I was shocked. I went home and called the DA’s office, and they said he was let out on $50,000 bail a week before.”
Marsy’s Law is written on behalf of all of her family, including Leach’s son, Henry Nicholas, who is financially underwriting much of the bill’s campaign that is essentially intended to give crime victims the “same respect and fairness currently awarded to prisoners and convicted criminals.”
“Marsy’s Law” will constitutionalize victims’ rights in the California State Constitution, and its passage will give California one of the most comprehensive Victims’ Bill of Rights in the nation.
For more information on Marsy’s Law, visit www. justiceforcrimevictims.com