Lawmakers unlikely to put money into expanding crime victims' rights

A constitutional amendment North Carolina voters approved last fall to protect the rights of crime victims takes effect in less than three months, but lawmakers still haven't approved funding for it or provided law enforcement any guidance to implement it.

Posted 10:27 p.m. Jun 14, 2019 — Updated 10:27 p.m. Jun 14, 2019

Cullen Browder

, WRAL anchor/reporter

RALEIGH, N.C. — A constitutional amendment North Carolina voters approved last fall to protect the rights of crime victims takes effect in less than three months, but lawmakers still haven't approved funding for it or provided law enforcement any guidance to implement it.

The amendment, dubbed Marsy's Law after a woman in California whose family ran into her killer in a grocery store after he was let out on bond, passed by a 62 to 38 percent margin in the November election, one of four constitutional amendments voters approved at the time.

Although North Carolina provides crime victims certain rights by law, Marsy's Law gives the right to be notified of court proceedings and the right to be heard at those hearings to victims of a wider variety of assaults or felony property crimes who request notification. It also expands those rights for cases involving juvenile defendants.

District attorneys say victims' rights are at the core of what they do, and they expressed worry last summer when state lawmakers debated putting Marsy's Law on the ballot about new burdens on the court system. They're even more worried now with the Sept. 1 deadline to implement it approaching.

"We want to know exactly what we're supposed to do and what happens if someone falls through the cracks," Peg Dorer, director of the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys.

Dorer estimated at least $10 million is needed to cover increased staffing, including victim service coordinators.

"Without the proper resources, I'm concerned that we're going to be stretched really thin," she said.

House and Senate negotiators are still working on a compromise state budget for the 2019-20 fiscal year, which starts next month, but lawmakers have said privately that new money for the court system is targeted at the "Raise the Age" effort to stop prosecuting most 16- and 17-year-olds as adults, which takes effect in December.

No new money is expected to address Marsy's Law, they said.

Colon Willoughby, a longtime Wake County district attorney who is now a lobbyist for the group that pushed Marsy's Law, said supporters are still working with lawmakers on a bill to set guidelines.

"Marsy's Law is working closely with our legislative supporters and stakeholder groups like the Conference of DAs to make sure a strong implementation bill is put into place before the constitutional amendment goes into effect," Willoughby said in an email.

Its adoption in North Carolina is part of a national effort to expand victim protections across the country.

The Kentucky Supreme Court struck down that state's Marsy's Law on Thursday, ruling that the language on the ballot was too vague. North Carolina's amendment was more detailed, and observers don't expect a similar challenge here.

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