PIERRE, S.D. (AP) – Some South Dakota legislators want to repeal a voter-approved constitutional “bill of rights” for crime victims and instead strengthen victims’ rights in state law.
South Dakota is the first state to seek to repeal “Marsy’s Law” of the six that enacted it.
It’s named after California college student Marsalee “Marsy” Nicholas, who was stalked and killed in 1983 by an ex-boyfriend.
South Dakota House Speaker Mark Mickelson said Thursday that lawmakers would seek to strengthen victims’ rights provisions already in state law before asking voters to repeal the Marsy’s Law constitutional amendment they passed in 2016.
Mickelson says the amendment has hampered law enforcement and spiked costs for counties.
Gail Gitcho, a spokeswoman for Marsy’s Law for All, says taking it out of the constitution would make the law “spineless.”
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