Voters in the Nov. 5 election will be asked to answer a referendum question concerning the rights of crime victims, commonly known as Marsy’s Law.

The state Office of the Attorney General provided a plain English statement explaining the proposed Constitutional amendment.

The proposed amendment, if approved by the electorate, will provide victims of crimes with certain, new constitutional rights that must be protected in the same way as the rights afforded to individuals accused of committing a crime.

·The proposed amendment defines “victim” as both a person against whom the criminal act was committed and any person who was directly harmed by it. The accused, or any person a court decides is not acting in the best interest of a victim, cannot be a victim.

·Generally, the proposed amendment would grant victims the constitutional right to receive notice and be present and speak at public proceedings involving the alleged criminal conduct.

·It would also grant victims the constitutional right to receive notice of any escape or release of the accused and the right to have their safety and the safety of their family considered in setting the amount of bail and other release conditions.

·It would also create several other new constitutional rights, such as the right to timely restitution and return of property, the right to refuse to answer questions asked by the accused and the right to speak with a government attorney.

·The proposed amendment would allow a victim or prosecutor to ask a court to enforce these constitutional rights but would not allow a victim to become a legal party to the criminal proceedings or sue the commonwealth or any political subdivision, such as a county or municipality, for monetary damages.

Once added to the Pennsylvania Constitution, these specific rights of victims cannot be eliminated, except by a judicial decision finding all or part of the amendment unconstitutional or the approval of a subsequent constitutional amendment.

If approved, the General Assembly may pass a law to implement these new, constitutional rights, but it may not pass a law eliminating them.

If approved, state and local governments will need to create new procedures to ensure victims receive the rights provided for in the amendment.