HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania’s highest court is putting a final nail into the coffin of a proposed victims’ rights constitutional amendment that state voters supported by a large margin more than two years ago but which has never gone into effect.
The justices ruled Tuesday by a 6 to 1 vote that the sprawling proposal violated the Pennsylvania Constitution’s requirement that amendments address a single topic to prevent lawmakers from bundling together items that might not pass on their own individual merits.
“This is yet another example of how the Commonwealth does not support victims of crime," said State Director for Marsy’s Law for Pennsylvania Jennifer Riley. "The decision will ultimately disenfranchise the over 1.7 million Pennsylvania voters who expressed their support of Marsy’s Law.
Unofficial tallies indicate the so-called “Marsy’s Law” amendment question passed by a ratio of 3 to 1 in 2019.