Battle over Marsy’s Law, now part of State Constitution, may head to 2018 ballot.

Pat Powers

If State Representative Mark Mickelson has his way, the Victims Rights measure commonly known as Marsy’s Law may be headed back to the ballot to strip it out of the State Constitution:

State Rep. Mark Mickelson wants to repeal the Marsy’s Law amendment that voters approved in 2016. It put victims’ rights in the South Dakota Constitution.

Mickelson, R-Sioux Falls, said the constitutional amendment duplicated state laws in a variety of instances. “Our constitution is pretty sacred,” he told South Dakota Public Radio on Tuesday.

Mickelson said the first step for the Legislature in the 2018 session would be passing laws to cover gaps in victims’ rights.

Next would be a resolution asking legislators to put the constitutional repeal on the 2018 ballot. A majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate would be needed.

and…

Glodt, in running the Marsy’s Law campaign, said he wanted the constitutional amendment in part to prevent the Legislature from directly overturning it. He is executive director for GSG Strategies, a political consulting group.

Read it all here.

What are your thoughts? An initiated measure that was declared unconstitutional was one thing, but do you think the legislature would try to strip a victims rights measure out of the constitution?

8 thoughts on “Battle over Marsy’s Law, now part of State Constitution, may head to 2018 ballot.”

  1. This is precisely why we need to VNOE the year, so we aren’t faced with the unintended consequences of laws such as Marsy’s law. It might sound good on the surface or with the promoters glib explanation, but it is seldom that simple.

  2. If approved for the ballot this could get sticky for Marty. Law enforcement and the legal community hate Marcy’s Law and that is Marty’s base, but Glodt is Marty’s campaign manager and was the proponent of passing Marcy’s Law.

    Interesting development.

  3. If I’m Mickelson I do one thing. Call Jackley and ask him to publicly oppose Marsy’s law and support the repeal. No states attorney wants it.

    It’s a done deal.

    2. States Attorney Michael Moore from Huron wanted it and Lance Russell wanting to be AG supported it.

      They both did commercials for it, didn’t they?

  4. Rapists have constitutional rights and their victims deserve equal rights. All but about 10 states have now passed constitutional rights for crime victims. It would be crazy for South Dakota to go backwards on this issue.

    1. Before we start taking rights away and giving to some other group we should be perfectly who has what rights.
      A suspect or defendant is still innocent, and still have all the same rights as anyone else
      -They have the right to free speech (although their attorneys would recommend against it)
      -They have the right keep and bear arms
      -They have the right to vote
      -They have the right to hold elected office
      -They have the right to serve on a jury
      Once they are convicted, by a jury of their peers, in a court of law, they lose some of those rights.
      Most of the rights that are in the constitution are designed to give innocent people a means to legally defend themselves against false accusations. Those rights are to protect the people against their government.

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