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
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
