Marsy's Law (Illinois)
| Crime Victims' Bill of Rights | ||||||||||
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| Amendment of Section 8.1 of Article I of the Illinois Constitution | ||||||||||
| Location | Illinois | |||||||||
| Date | 2014 | |||||||||
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Marsy's Law for Illinois, formally called the Illinois Crime Victims' Bill of Rights, amended the 1993 Rights of Crime Victims and Witnesses Act by establishing additional protections for crime victims and their families. Voters approved the measure as a constitutional amendment on November 4, 2014. It became law in 2015.
The law is modeled after a piece of 2008 California legislation called Marsy's Law.
The Illinois Crime Victims' Bill of Rights amended the Constitution of Illinois to include protections for crime victims, including information on hearings, restitution and other protections. It was modeled after 2008 California legislation called Marsy's Law, named after Marsy Nicholas, a California college student who was murdered by an ex-boyfriend in 1983.
Illinois' Marsy's Law was one of several efforts to expand Marsy's Law across the U.S. following its successful adoption in California. There are efforts to introduce similar Marsy's Laws in Hawaii,Montana,Nevada and South Dakota. The ballot measure in Illinois received close to $4.3 million in financial support from Henry Nicholas, the brother of Marsy Nicholas and the sponsor of the original campaign in California.
In April 2014, Illinois lawmakers in the state's House and Senate agreed to place a referendum on the fall ballot to amend the Illinois state constitution. The proposed amendment to Section 8.1 of Article I of the Illinois Constitution, the Crime Victims' Bill of Rights, appeared on the ballot of the November 4, 2014, general election. Seventy-eight percent of voters who answered the question approved the referendum.
The state House approved HB 1121, the implementation bill reconciling the 1993 Rights of Crime Victims and Witnesses Act with the constitutional amendment, on April 23, 2015. A month later, the state Senate approved the bill. Marsy's Law became effective immediately when Governor Bruce Rauner signed the legislation on August 20, 2015.
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