Idaho House kills victims’ rights amendment
Idaho lawmakers have once again spiked a proposal seeking to expand the rights of crime victims after opponents argued the change could lead to costly unintended consequences.
House members failed to give the proposal a two-thirds majority support on Monday.
The proposal would have changed Idaho’s 1994 Victim Rights Amendment by requiring victims to be timely notified of all court proceedings involving suspects, as well as allowing victims be heard at each step of the legal process.
A similar proposal failed to clear the House last year after lawmakers raised concerns about the bill’s backers and appropriateness of tweaking Idaho’s constitution.
The amendment, dubbed Marsy’s Law for Idaho, is named for a California woman killed in 1983 by her ex-boyfriend after he was released from jail without her being notified.
