Unit 1012 supports all
victims’ rights group and we encourage people to vote for Marsy’s Law in all
states. We will present two articles on victims’ rights:
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PHOTO CAPTION: Marsy's Law
supporters protest a press conference held by the ACLU and the League of Women
Voters in the state Capitol, where the groups announced legal action that would
remove the proposed constitutional amendment from ballots on Nov. 5.
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We need to hear more victims’ voices, we need
Marsy’s Law | Opinion
By
Capital-Star Op-Ed Contributor –
By
Capital-Star Op-Ed Contributor –
(*This opEd has been updated to correctly reflect
Craig Stedman’s candidacy for the Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas in the
Nov. 5 general election.)
By Craig Stedman
News reports about crimes and convictions often
focus on the perpetrator, what they did and why and the process of their trial.
But often lost in the news coverage is another equally important voice in any
criminal event, arrest or conviction: the victim.
Prosecutors go to work every day not just to uphold
the law, but to stand with victims in their quest for justice. They are the
reason we do what we do. That is why I, and many of my fellow district
attorneys, are zealous advocates for the proposed Marsy’s Law constitutional
amendment. And it is why many of us are confounded by the recent attempt by
special interest groups to subvert this progress being made for victims.
Make no mistake, defendants deserve rights and due
process throughout the criminal justice system, and those rights are already
protected by the State and Federal constitutions. Contrary to recent assertions,
Marsy’s Law would not conflict with these constitutional protections for the
accused and convicted. Judges are well versed and highly skilled at balancing
rights, which they already do on a daily basis.
But if victims’ rights are not also protected by the
constitution, then they are meaningless.
For victims, having an active role in the process –
a voice in court, updates on their alleged perpetrator’s case, the ability to
confer with the prosecutor – is crucial to their recovery and closure following
a criminal act. Marsy’s Law would fulfill all of those needs by making victims’
rights part of the state constitution, and do so without impacting due process.
Some folks might think of a prosecutor’s office as
only a group of lawyers, but that misconception omits a crucial part of our
team: our victim advocates. My office could not function without our advocates.
Their daily work involves difficult conversations and heart-wrenching
encounters with people who have been violated and are searching for answers. We
know the last thing victims want is to feel re-victimized by a system they
believe is in place to protect them and provide an avenue to justice. Our
advocates do this important work without the foundation of the Constitution.
Marsy’s Law is named after a woman who was stalked
and killed 35 years ago in California. Shortly after the horrific crime,
Marsy’s mother and brother were encountered in a grocery store by the charged
killed. They had no idea he had been released on bail.
Judge blocks Pennsylvania elections officials from
tallying Nov. 5 votes on Marsy’s Law
Imagine the shock, anger and utter devastation felt
by Marsy’s family. Let’s do all we can to assure such a situation can never
happen in Pennsylvania. Marsy’s story reminds us that victimization is not
about stats and numbers. It is about real people – people who did not deserve
what happened to them.
Victims and their families put their trust in us,
the prosecutors, at the worst times in their lives. Many of them will always
remember being a victim and being at the mercy of their offender. So, we simply
must have a system that honors and respects those who have suffered and those
who have endured. Otherwise, they are being victimized all over again.
A prosecutor’s role is one of a kind – that is why
many of us pursued this career. We do not represent a particular client; we
represent the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. That daily crusade in courtrooms
involves standing up for victims, holding their offenders accountable while
providing the survivors a voice to say, “I am no longer your victim, no longer
at your mercy.”
And survivors have waited long enough to have their
voices be heard. I am confident that Marsy’s Law would not cause any harm to
due process, and the Department of State has affirmed that the ballot question
for Marsy’s Law is constitutional.
Now it’s time to take it to the voters of
Pennsylvania.
*Craig Stedman, a Republican, is the elected district attorney for Lancaster County, Pa. He is also a candidate in the Nov. 5 election for the Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas.
Two years after her daughter was killed, mother
works to help sexual assault survivors
By Emerson Clarridge
October 25, 2019 09:42 PM, Updated October 25, 2019
10:18 PM
Molly Matheson used wit to maneuver in her family
of three brothers.
She offered advice on handling girls and cheered
their achievements.
It seems at times to her relatives that the Fort
Worth woman, who was 22 when she was raped and killed in April 2017, is still
in their lives.
“She’s just not present,” Tracy Matheson, her
mother, said Friday.
Matheson found her daughter’s body on the floor of
the shower in her garage apartment behind a house about two blocks from the
Texas Christian University campus. The assailant, law enforcement authorities
allege, is a man she dated in college. After killing her, he washed her body,
clothes and bedding in an attempt to destroy evidence, they allege.
Reginald Kimbro, who has been indicted on a capital
murder charge in the case, is to be tried in May. The Tarrant County District
Attorney’s Office is seeking the death penalty.
Kimbro has also been indicted in the capital murder
of a Plano woman that occurred less than two weeks after Matheson’s death. He
is accused in the rape and slaying of 36-year-old Megan Leigh Getrum.
Tracy Matheson spoke Friday to about 30 Bank of
America employees who volunteered at its Amon Carter Boulevard office to
assemble bags of clothing and other items to give to sexual assault victims
soon after they are examined.
The bags are distributed to hospitals and rape
crisis centers by a nonprofit organization, Project Beloved, which Tracy
Matheson created that is focused on helping sexual assault victims.
The organization has donated 1,700 of the bags,
called beloved bundles, that hold clothing, hygiene products and other items.
Bank of America donated $50,000 to Project Beloved.
The grant will fund bundles and the creation of “soft” rooms in which
detectives interview victims at law enforcement offices . The rooms include
comfortable seating, pleasant lighting, artwork and rugs to help people feel
safe. Such a room recently was added at the Bedford Police Department.
Emily Boydston, a wealth management advisor at
Merrill Lynch, nominated the nonprofit for the bank grant. She met Tracy
Matheson at a Trinity Valley School alumni gathering after Matheson’s
daughter’s death.
Molly Matheson grew up in Winter Park, Fla., before
moving to Fort Worth with her family in 2010. After graduating from high
school, she attended the University of Arkansas. She left the school in 2015
and returned to Fort Worth.
At the time of her death, she was working as a
sales manager at a women’s clothing store in the University Park Village
shopping center. Matheson’s mother learned that she had not arrived for a
scheduled shift and found her body when she went to check on her.
“She was the glue that held our family together,”
she said.
As she prepares for the Kimbro’s trial next year,
Tracy Matheson is focused on the work of her organization. Next up, she will
oversee the installation of six soft interview rooms at the Austin Police
Department.
https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/crime/article236670118.html
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Joining victims and families in downtown Los
Angeles to commemorate the annual National Day of Remembrance for Murder
Victims are: Henry Nicholas,
center; standing, from left, his mother, Marcella Leach, Jane and Bill Bouffard of the
Homicide Victims Memorial Foundation, Ann Del Rio of Justice for Murdered
Children, and Crime Survivors founder Patricia Wenskunas; standing, second from
right, victims' rights advocate Collene Campbell; and seated, far right, former
Orange County Deputy District Attorney Todd Spitzer. (September 28, 2011)
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