The Orange County Board of Commissioners voted 5-1 last Thursday to rescind its support of Marsy’s Law, one of the six constitutional amendments on the midterm ballot across the state.
Proponents say the constitutional amendment brings equal rights to victims of crimes, protecting them from a criminal justice system that does not have their best interests at heart. On the other hand, opponents say the bill’s vague language leaves room for unjust prosecution of defendants and threatens the core idea of “innocent until proven guilty.”
The Orange County Board of Commissioners passed the original resolution supporting Marsy’s Law 7-0 in March. Commissioner Renee Price said possible unforeseeable ramifications of the law are making her reconsider.
“Initially, I think it had good intentions,” she said. “But realizing what could happen if this is put into the Constitution without the laws being written beforehand, we don’t know what could happen.”
Commissioner Earl McKee was the one vote against rescinding support, saying on Thursday night he knew what he was voting for back in March. He also said he had questions regarding the language of the resolution revoking the board’s support.
“I think that supporting victims’ rights is paramount to a safe society, so unless someone can answer those three questions, I’m not going to be able to support rescinding it,” he said. “Because I want to know what we’re doing when we do this.”
Commissioner Mark Marcoplos said similar bills in other states were causing problems and highlighting concerns of the bill’s broad language.
“No one can predict how it will be interpreted,” Marcoplos said. “And in fact, South Dakota passed the law and now they’re in the process of taking it back so that they can take the ambiguity out of it so it doesn’t lead to unintended consequences.”
There are six Constitutional amendments on this fall’s ballot in North Carolina.
Election Day is this Tuesday. Polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
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