Lewis receives Victims Rights award as Marsy's Law for MS kicks off statewide campaign
Congressman John Lewis (D-GA), pictured with Marsy's Law campaigner Danica Key Thompson, receives the Victims Rights Award.
As Marsy’s Law for Mississippi kicks off a statewide campaign throughout the Magnolia State, the national organization, Marsy’s Law for All, awards Congressman John Lewis (D-GA) the Victims’ Rights Champion Award. This award honors dedicated advocates throughout the nation whose efforts to advance crime victims’ rights have strengthened and elevated the rights of crime victims across the country.
“Congressman John Lewis has spent a lifetime giving a voice to the voiceless in our nation, and his support for Marsy’s Law helped give victims a voice that’s now enshrined in the Georgia Constitution,” says Erinn Mahathey, Marsy’s Law for All National Outreach Director. “We greatly appreciate Congressman Lewis’s dedication to equal rights for all.”
On Thursday, August 1, Speaker Philip Gunn will be joined by elected officials and victims’ rights advocates to formally kick off the statewide campaign for Marsy’s Law for Mississippi at the Neshoba County Fair, Cabin 211, at 12:40 p.m.
The proposed constitutional amendment, once passed by the legislature and approved by the voters, would ensure that crime victim and their families are provided with the same level of equal, or “co-equal”, constitutional rights as those afforded and guaranteed to the accused or convicted. Included in the overall effort to re-inject the voice of the victim into court proceedings, the passage of Marsy’s Law for Mississippi would grant enforceable rights to crime victims and their families. These rights include the right to be treated with respect, fairness, and dignity throughout the criminal justice process; the right to information about the rights and services available to crime victims; the right to notification of proceedings in a timely manner; the right to information about the rights and services available to crime victims; the right to be present at court proceedings; the right to provide input to a prosecutor before a plea deal is struck; the right to be heard at please or sentence proceedings; and the right to restitution.
“We want to ensure that victims of crime are not let down by our justice system,” says Gunn. “My goal is to help Mississippi’s crime victims achieve both justice and restoration and to feel heard throughout the legal process.”
Victims and advocates interested in sharing their stories, please email [email protected].