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Supreme Court To Decide If Marsy’s Law Question On Ballot Too Vague

Posted at 11:58 AM, Feb 08, 2019
and last updated 2019-02-08 12:27:39-05

FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18 )– The Kentucky Supreme Court took up the issue of Marsy’s Law on Friday.

The amendment was okayed by voters on Election Day, but held up due to the wording on the ballot.

Now, the supreme court will need to figure out if this 38-word question was too vague and did the voters know what they were voting on.

When voters filled out their ballots, this is the question they were asked: “are you in favor of providing constitutional rights to victims of crime, including the right to be treated fairly, with dignity and respect, and the right to be informed and to have a voice in the judicial process?”

63 percent of voters said yes, but the results of this vote cannot be certified until the court figures out if this question actually told people what they were voting on. And what they were voting on is actually Marsy’s Law. So this issue boils down to why was the entire amendment–which is much longer and more detailed–not printed on the ballot? And the justices wondered if the question was worded fairly.

“If you ask the voters if they’re for crime victims rights, who other than a sociopath would answer anything but yes to that question but when you get down to what that means to our system and how we process crimes committed, it gets complicated,” said Justice Michelle Keller.

The decision is now up to the supreme court.