On Nov. 5, Pennsylvanians will vote on a ballot referendum known as Marsy's Law, which proponents deem a crime-victim rights amendment to the state constitution. The referendum states the amendment would “grant certain rights to crime victims, including to be treated with fairness, respect and dignity.”

The law passed unanimously in the state Senate and by a 190-8 margin in the state House. It will only be ratified into the state Constitution with a successful referendum vote, and then a signature from Gov. Tom Wolf, who has joined Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala and the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association in endorsing it.

One of its prominent features is ensuring that victims of crimes and their families are notified about arrests and legal actions against the victim's offender. But the American Civil Liberties Union and League of Women Voters oppose Marsy's Law for concerns about how it could infringe on the rights of the accused.

Pennsylvania already has a crime-victims protection law, and Marsy's Law doesn't involve many changes to that statute.

How exactly did the Marsy's Law constitutional amendment get on this year's ballot?The answer boils down mostly to one man: Henry Nicholas, Marsy's brother and a billionaire and founder of the software company Broadcom. Marsy's Law was started with the funding, advocacy and organization from a small group of individuals.In 1983, 23-year-old Marsalee Ann Nicholas, who went by Marsy, was murdered in Malibu by Kerry Conley, her ex-boyfriend. Conley was convicted of second-degree murder in 1985 and he died in prison in 2007. But in the period between his charges and his conviction, Conley was free after posting $100,000 bail.Marcella and Bob Leach, and Henry and Marsy Nicholas, who were Marcella's children from a previous marriage, said they often saw Conley in their neighborhood in the two years between Conley's charges and conviction, and it was traumatizing.In a 2010 article in the Orange County Register, Nicholas said the first encounter was shocking because the Leach family hadn't been notified Conley made bail.Nicholas told the Register that he and his parents would have to drive about four hours to speak at Conley's parole hearings to make their case that he shouldn't be paroled. Nicholas said on the second parole-hearing trip, his mother had a heart attack from the stress, but survived.That experience led Nicholas and his family to advocate for Marsy's Law in California, which was passed via a ballot initiative in 2008.During the 1990s, the Leach family helmed the group Justice for Homicide Victims, which advocated for several tough-on-crime laws in California, including the state's controversial Three Strikes law, which mandated longer prison times for repeat offenders.But since the late 2000s, advocacy has been mostly efforts led by Nicholas to get Marsy's Law amended in state constitutions.

Marsy's Law for All, a foundation that has the goal to get Marsy's Law passed in all 50 states and added to the U.S. Constitution, was started in 2009 by Nicholas. All of the $6 million raised by the Pennsylvania Marsy's Law effort has been raised from Nicholas' foundation. There are no other donors to Marsy's Law for Pennsylvania LLC, according to state campaign finance files.According to the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, more than $102 million has been spent advocating other states to pass the law, and Nicholas has contributed 97 percent.Nevada passed Marsy's Law in 2018, as did Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina and Oklahoma.

The League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania is skeptical of Marsy's law and has concerns that the law is repeating protections that already exist.Both the ACLU of Pennsylvania and League of Women Voters brought a suit against Marsy's Law on Oct. 11, alleging the ballot initiative is too broad and should be instead broken up into two or three separate questions.The Pennsylvania Crime Victims Act already affords protections and established rules that crime victims have to be notified about arrests and legal actions against the victim's offender, but Marsy's Law would extend some of those rules to the victim's family members.However, Marsy's law makes some significant changes to rules concerning the accused. One of the more contentious parts of the proposed amendment would allow victims to “refuse an interview, deposition or other discovery request” made by the accused or the accused's lawyers.The ACLU says the changes could shift the scales in favor of the state, which prosecutes the accused in criminal cases.“As a result, many of the provisions in Marsy's Law could actually strengthen the state's hand against a defendant, undermining the bedrock legal principles of due process and the presumption of innocence,” wrote Elizabeth Randol, legislative director for ACLU Pennsylvania, after Marsy's Law cleared the state Senate.

Pittsburgh criminal defense attorney Patrick Nightingale said defense cases are often hamstrung without discovery.Jennifer Riley, state director of Marsy's Law, said victims in Pennsylvania “can already refuse pretrial discovery requests made by the accused,” and that “with Marsy's Law the defense remains entitled to everything discoverable.” She wrote that the state will still have to respond to discovery requests in criminal cases under Marsy's Law.

The ballot measure, also known as Marsy's Law, would provide crime victims with 15 specific constitutional rights, including a right to:- Be treated with fairness and respect for the victim's safety, dignity and privacy- Proceedings free from unreasonable delay and a prompt and final conclusion of the case- Have the safety of the victim and victim's family considered when setting the bail amount and release conditions for the accused- Reasonable and timely notice of public proceedings involving the criminal conduct- Be present at public proceedings involving the criminal conduct- Be heard at proceedings where a right of the victim is implicated, including release, sentencing and parole proceedings- Receive notice of any pretrial disposition of the case, with the exception of grand jury proceedings- Provide information to be considered before the parole of the offender- Reasonable protection from the accused and those acting on the behalf of the accused- Reasonable notice of the release or escape of the accused- Refuse an interview, deposition or other discovery request made by the accused- Full and timely restitution from the person or entity convicted- The prompt return of property when no longer needed as evidence- Confer with the government's attorney- Be informed of all rights granted by the amendment.The ballot measure would define crime victim as a person against whom a criminal offense or delinquent act was committed and who was directly harmed by the offense or act.SOURCE: Ballotpedia

Marsalee Ann Nicholas, 23, who went by Marsy, was murdered in Malibu by Kerry Conley in 1983. Until his conviction in 1985, Nicholas' family felt traumatized by Conley.