Wisconsin voters approve victim rights

Wisconsin voters, in a historic election that saw more than a million people cast ballots despite the COVID-19 pandemic, overwhelmingly approved Marsy’s Law, ensuring that equal rights for crime victims are enumerated in the state constitution.

Wisconsin joins Pennsylvania, Nevada, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Ohio, California, Illinois, North Dakota, and South Dakota in passing Marsy’s Law, ensuring that more than 40 percent of Americans now live in states that have rights they can assert in the criminal justice system should they ever become crime victims.

Dr. Henry Nicholas, founder of Marsy’s Law for All, said the election results demonstrate Wisconsin voters’ demand that crime victims be treated with equal consideration to perpetrators and the accused.

Marsy’s Law is named after Dr. Nicholas’ sister, 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 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.